Villagers desperate to save their much-loved community hub have set up a petition to save the building from being knocked down.

Arminghall Village Hall has been closed for the past two years with plans to replace it with a two-bedroom chalet bungalow.

Plans have now been submitted to South Norfolk Council by the Caistor St Edmund and Bixley Parish Council.

But Madeleine Davies, 66, has set up a petition calling for the building to be "retained as a village hall for the use of the community", which has collected 63 signatures since Friday.

She said: "It's our only community asset. There were lots of meetings and parish events in there.

"The village is really up in arms about it. It's a lovely, quaint old hall and a beautiful holly tree within the boundary would also have to come down."

The hall, which is located at the junction of Arminghall Lane and Church Close, has been in the village since 1952.

Eastern Daily Press: Arminghall Village Hall, which could be demolished to make way for a new chaletArminghall Village Hall, which could be demolished to make way for a new chalet (Image: Google)

It has been used for numerous events including bingo nights, singing groups, craft workshops, yoga, parties and jumble sales even though it has no facilities.

Simon Woods, vice-chairman of the parish council said: "Nothing has been decided yet. We hope people from Arminghall will come along to the meeting and make comments. We have a hired a bigger hall.

"We will present the facts and figures on Wednesday."

And many villagers believe plans for a new bungalow with two parking spaces would be unsafe as the hall, which currently has no parking, is located at a bend of the road.

Mary Dawson, 85, lives opposite the hall with her husband Leslie, 86, who used to clean the hall and cut the grass before it was closed.

"We want to see if we can save the hall if we can as we used to have several things in there," Mrs Dawson said.

"It would be a shame to lose it."

Eastern Daily Press: Les Dawson, who lives opposite the village hall, showing pictures of past events at the hall over the yearsLes Dawson, who lives opposite the village hall, showing pictures of past events at the hall over the years (Image: Cavell Turner)

The couple have lived in Arminghall Lane for 22 years and say the hall has been a much-loved facility for as long as they can remember.

They held an open garden event to raise funds for tables and chairs for the hall in the past.

The village hall will be discussed at a parish council meeting in Poringland Community Centre on Wednesday, starting at 7.15pm.