CAMPAIGNERS in Cookley battling to save the parish hall are getting ready to fight again following a fresh planning application for the site.

The hall, in Lea Lane, was closed in 2002 after it fell into disrepair and the land was put up for sale by the Church Parochial Council of St Peter's Church.

An application to demolish the rundown hall and build four houses on the land has been submitted by developer, CA Giles, to Wyre Forest District Council and campaigner, Cally Godfrey, is worried that if planning permission is granted the site could be sold.

The 33-year-old, of Bridge Road, said: "It was given to the village people to improve our quality of life so we could hold events and entertainment there.

"We want the land to be kept for the village and a new parish hall built on it."

Mrs Godfrey, said they had already raised £46,000 towards a new hall and would be happy to apply for grants to fund the project.

She added she was worried that if the building, which was built in 1936, was sold they would not be able to find another site, particularly as the village is surrounded by greenbelt land.

Muriel Handy, of Austcliffe Road, said: "We are still hoping to save it - we don't want it pulled down. There are lots of things that could be done with the place for children and grown-ups.

"There's nowhere for young people to go in Cookley. If we had a parish hall they could go there."

The Rev Geoffrey Shilvock, vicar at St Peter's, said: "The hall was built in the 1930s and has been in quite a bad state for a number of years.

"We have been trying to keep it going but it got to the point where it was going to cost so much money to put it right the expense wasn't justifiable."

He added that the church council was committed to building a new hall and was looking at a number of possible sites in the village.

The consultation period runs until Thursday, April 13.