GRAYSHOTT Scouts are celebrating after getting a huge lottery grant this week.

The Scouts, in conjunction with a pre-school group which shares the Scout headquarters at Grayshott Primary School playing field, have been awarded joint funding of £85,000.

The successful bid is third time lucky for the local organisations which went back to the drawing board and came up with a smaller scheme for the building, after failing to attract lottery funding on two other separate occasions.

The cash from the Lottery Charities Board will provide a long-awaited extension and improvements to the current Scout hut.

It will also secure the future of PK Pre-School and greatly improve existing facilities for Grayshott Scouts.

The hut is a timber building used originally as accommodation for troops during the second world war and later moved to its current position for use by the Scouts.

Included in the lottery funding are plans for its refurbishment including replacements windows, doors, kitchen and roofing work.

The extension will provide a new home for the pre-school group which faced an uncertain future when the hut was threatened with closure because of less-than-ideal accommodation.

The Scouts and PK Pre-school put in a joint bid to the lottery. With 30 youngsters between the ages of nearly three and five on the roll, the new extension will provide much needed accommodation for the popular pre-school group.

It will also allow other local groups to use the building for child-orientated activities, including a mother-and-toddler group and after-school club.

A spokesman for the Scout group said: "The Scouts and PK have developed a mutually beneficial relationship. If the pre-school group had been forced to close, our future would have been put in jeopardy.

"The funding guarantees our ability to offer out-of-school activities to children in the area for many years to come."

The pre-school was also jubilant about the successful lottery bid and celebrated on the first day backfollowing the Easter holiday.

"I am "cock-a-hoop" at the news," said Kay Houlin, the founder and leader of the group.

A public meeting will now be held to discuss the proposals and provide greater details of the scheme to village residents.