A Dorset village hall will be going underground with its gas supply.

The hall committee at West Stafford, near Dorchester, is to install a 2,200 litre gas tank beneath the surface of the car park – doing away with unsightly freestanding gas bottles.

An application was made to Dorset Council for the work because the hall is a grade II listed building but the council decided that, because the changes are all underground, there is no need for the works to be considered for consent.

Said the hall trustees in the application: "The site for the tank will be to the rear of the village hall behind the car park area, the only visible part of the tank will be a cylinder cap for refilling purposes. 

"The current small tanks are increasingly difficult the source with the cost escalating for each individual tank. As a charity we fell this would be a more sustainable and cost effective solution."

The hall, originally a school, was built in 1846 and gifted to the village by the Floyer Acland Estate.

The school use ceased in 1932 with the building being listed in 1959.

In 1970 the hall was donated to the village and a charitable Trust Deed was drawn up stating that the building was "to be held upon trust for the purposes of a village hall for the use of the inhabitants of West Stafford without distinction of political, religious or other opinions, including use for meetings, lectures and classes and for other forms of recreation and leisure-time occupation with the object of improving the conditions of life for the said inhabitants".

Trustees say the facility is still widely used today for local clubs and organisation as well as social and arts events.