THE dilapidated John Stretton Memorial Hall had become a burden and the decision to dispose of it was taken earlier this year.

The building, jointly owned by the district Scouts and Guides, had been used in recent times for only about 20 meetings a year by adult Scouters.

District Scouts Commissioner, Dave Denton, said: "It was in need of extensive renovation, which would have cost thousands of pounds and was not getting used by many of the young people in Scouting or Guiding in Kidderminster.

"It was difficult to justify spending money on it and so it was decided to sell the building and divide the proceeds equally between the Scouts and Guides."

He added: "After the sale, the Scout Council decided to put the bulk of its share into the Operation Covert appeal.

"This was felt to be an appropriate use of the money because the new Rhydd Covert centre will benefit so many young people, including all the Scout groups in Wyre Forest."

The hall was built almost half a century ago and was the busy headquarters of the Scout and Guide movement in Kidderminster in its heyday.

Land in Castle Street was given for the building in 1948 by the family of Kidderminster Hospital surgeon, John Stretton, who was the District Scout Commissioner.

However, it was so close to the River Stour, extensive safety work would have been necessary, so it was exchanged with Kidderminster Borough Council for a nearby piece of land, where it was eventually built in the late 1950s.

Mr Denton said: "When Operation Covert was launched by the Shuttle/Times & News last October, we did not anticipate acquiring funds from selling John Stretton Memorial Hall. It has really been a surprise windfall and we are delighted to be in a position to support the appeal on such a scale."