Users of a community centre in Pill, Bristol are celebrating after receiving a £125,000 grant to help pay for much needed repairs to the building's leaky roof.

Bosses at the Pill Community Centre management committee this week received the funding for the work from North Somerset Council.

Committee members have been working for the last two years to raise the money needed to improve the building at Church Place, which is used by scores of community groups.

Pill Community Centre management committee chairman, Alan Smith, said: "We are delighted that North Somerset Council has chosen to support our project and allocated £125,000 towards the repairs.

"We have been working for two years to raise the money needed to repair the roof.

"We have had a lot of support from our local councillors, the parish council and the community to raise the funds needed.

"The centre is very well-used by a number of community organisations and is practically booked solid throughout the week.

"This grant will mean we can now start work to repair the building and make it water tight before we move ahead with the other improvements which are planned."

The committee has appointed a structural engineer to assess the damage caused by the water coming through the roof.

Mr Smith said: "We are still waiting to find out exactly how much damage has been caused by the leaking roof.

"In some parts of the building it leaked quite badly and we believe there may have been some damage to the walls.

"We are waiting for the report by the structural engineer to be completed so as to assess what needs to be done."

The management committee took over the running of the centre, which was built in 1854 and was previously a school, from the parish council four years ago.

The roof repairs will signal the start of a major refurbishment of the building, which is due to be completed by 2015.

The refurbishment work will see the building fully rewired, redecorated and the heating system upgraded.

Work will also be carried out to repair some of the building's ceilings.