VILLAGE halls in Over Stowey and Nether Stowey were among 26 to share in a £500,000 pay-out as Sedgemoor District Council was due to be abolished at the end of the month.

Both halls received the maximum individual grant of £50,000 from the fund set up as a legacy for the council, which is being replaced along with the county’s other districts by a unitary Somerset Council on April 1.

Commemorative plaques were also presented to representatives of the each of the halls.

Over Stowey will put the money toward the cost of repairing, insulating, and making the roof structurally sound, and reinstalling the original bell tower.

In Nether Stowey, the money will help with the relocation and new build of the Stowey Centre in the village recreation ground.

Sedgemoor leader Cllr Duncan McGinty said: “As a rural area, we know that the village or community hall is often the heartbeat of that community.

“From art classes to zumba, halls host a whole myriad of activities for their communities.

“We wanted to make sure that we could help our halls in the last days of Sedgemoor District Council, to make sure that they continue to provide such a vital part of life for many residents.”

Cllr McGinty said many hall committees were made up of volunteers who worked hard to keep charges affordable.

This often meant that while routine maintenance costs were covered, it was hard to build up funds for major capital works, which was why the council had created a capital fund to help them.