THE 1st Bradford on Avon Scouts unveiled their £25,000 refurbished Scout hut on Monday after 18 months of renovation.

The makeover of the hut, in St Margaret's Hill, included upgrading the kitchen and heating system, adding disabled toilets and installing disabled facilities and access.

At the club's annual general meeting, Scouts present and past gathered to cut the ribbon, such as former leader and vice president Sally Tanner, to open the restored hut, much to everyone's delight.

Scouts Izzy Geddes, 12, and Amber Smith, 11, were thrilled with the refurbished hut in terms of its new look and its improved accessibility.

"It is great what they have done with the place, it looks really cool and the plaque is good. This hut has been around for a long time so it is good to have facilities that go well with its history," said Izzy.

Amber said: "I agree it looks really good but also it is really good and important now that we have wheelchair access and it is more environmentally friendly. The Scout badge is a nice new bit as well."

The transformation was made possible courtesy of donations from Samuel William Farmer Trust, Cobb Farr, the town council, Wiltshire Youth Network, Bluebird Care and the Colonel Llewellyn Palmer Educational Trust.

Before its re-opening Mrs Tanner said she was thrilled to open the hut with her children Alex and Ben and paid tribute to her late husband Phil Tanner who was part of the group for more than 40 years.

On top of the donations, the group staged fundraising events such as a Christmas post service, bag packing and a bonfire night.

Chairman of the executive committee Neil Baker said: "We are extremely grateful for everyone's support, the place needed an uplift and this fits the bill.

"The plaque is a nice touch and we are delighted to unveil the place to bring to an end phase one in our plans.

"Next up is to try and refurbish the garage that leaks and once again have a minibus as our old one has gone to the minibus spirits in the sky."

A total of 80 Scouts, Cubs and Beavers attend the group and the hut itself has been open for around 40 years.

Scout Leader Chris Pugh added: "We are very fortunate that some of our long-standing members were here to see this."