VOLUNTEERS have bounced back and stepped up security measures after burglars broke into a village hall causing £5,000 of damage.

The raiders smashed a window and damaged six doors at Clayton Village Hall to get away with a haul which included a television, DJ equipment, a laptop, a Xbox computer system and bottles of wine and spirits from the bar.

Much of the equipment stolen was used by a youth club run at the site and has yet to be replaced but all of the windows and doors at the building have been fixed.

A 19-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of burglary and bailed until February.

Now, four months on, Councillor Carol Thirkill (Lab, Clayton and Fairweather Green), chairman of the Clayton Village Hall Community Association, said the Hall's volunteers have rallied round after their initial shock and got the site running back to normal.

She said: "We have bounced back.

"Everything is back to normal as it should be.

"It's a community building, so we've got to make sure it's there as it effects a number of people if it was not there.

"All of the volunteers and community were upset by it. A lot of the older people were upset that people have done this. The hall is very well used by the community.

"But we have tried to play it down. The building was almost secure straight away.

"It happened overnight on Sunday and we were open for a class on the Monday afternoon.

"We could not make the building more secure. They kicked the window in.

"More than £2,000 worth of locks had to be replaced and repaired.

"We have not replaced much of the stuff that has been stolen yet, such as the equipment taken that belonged to the youth club."

The raid took place at about midnight on Sunday, August 31, last year.

The village hall hosts a variety of groups including youth clubs, toddler groups, community classes and is open seven days a week.

The building, owned by the residents of Clayton, opened in 1979 and is run by a group of around 20 volunteers. It is self-funded with a small grant coming from Clayton Parish Council.

It is also a Grade II-listed building and was opened up as a Liberal Club in 1877 and was used as an officers' mess during the Second World War.

The site are hoping to expand their services this year by offering a daily toddlers group.

The Village Hall is looking to recruit a tutor for a weekly men's only computer class at the site. This will run every Friday between 1.30pm and 3.30pm.

For more information, call Cllr Thirkill on 07846 344071 or go to claytonvillage.org.uk.