York Handmade Brick Company has played a crucial role in the creation of a new village hall at Husthwaite, near Easingwold.

York Handmade, based in Alne, supplied 11,000 traditional bricks for the construction of the £500,000 new hall.

Will Mowat, the chairman of the Husthwaite Village Hall committee, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the way our new village hall looks and a good deal of credit must go to York Handmade, whose bricks make the village hall look very elegant, as well as fitting in seamlessly with the traditional and historic Husthwaite houses near the hall.

“York Handmade provided the bricks at a concessionary rate, which was tremendously kind of them."

David Armitage, the chairman and managing director of York Handmade, added: “We have strong links with the village of Husthwaite through our staff and were only too happy to help to build the new village hall. We used our popular Thirkleby Blend bricks, which were perfect for the village."

Will Mowat explained that the new hall, which has recently opened its doors, already held a cherished position in the heart of the community.

He said: “The new hall has been built thanks to the generous support of the Big Lottery and other funds. It has excellent facilities and caters for most needs.

“We were sad to say goodbye to the old hall, which held many happy memories, but its core was an old Army hut from Ripon, brought to the village by farmers using a horse and cart, which was prone to leaking. It just wasn’t right for the 21st century. Now we are able to cater for all parts of our community in comfort and safety."