A community hall has been saved from uncertainty after a £10,000 donation from Max Clifford.

Weybridge Hall has been handed a two-year partnership agreement between four key parties and a generous chunk of money from Elmbridge resident Clifford.

The PR guru’s money will fund the hall’s redecoration, to make it a brighter place to hire for activities such as dance, meetings and indoor football.

Clifford, who visited the hall for the first time on Wednesday, December 14, said: “It means a lot of a lot of people doesn’t it?

“There’s an awful lot of pleasure to be had from it and it’s good news the council is supporting it. I hope when it’s restored and at its best then more people will use it.”

Protesters descended upon the council in February to show their support for the under-threat hall.

Plans to decant users to other venues were met with anger, although the council never announced plans to close it.

Jennifer Doyle, chairman of the Friends of Weybridge Hall, said: “We were overwhelmed by the local support for the hall and delighted that Max Clifford has given such a boost to its future.

“With the partnership working together to improve usage of the hall, we are confident that we have secured this vital amenity for the community.

“Now we have to show that we really want the hall to stay open by using it.”

The partnership consists of Elmbridge Council, DC Leisure, Weybridge Society and the Friends of Weybridge Hall.

Call DC Leisure management on 01932 254750 or email elmbridgehalls@dcleisure.co.uk if you would like to book the hall.

To help support it, email Mrs Doyle at jenny.doyle29@yahoo.co.uk.

HISTORY: The hall opened as a cinema in 1920, named “the Kinema”, converted from two empty shops.

Between then and 1937 it changed named twice, from King George’s Cinema to the County, the name which existed until it was converted in to a public hall.

Prices for films when it opened started at ninepence and the venue went on to be claimed as the largest and most pleasant picture houses in the county.

The last film shown there was reportedly Gone with the Wind, but in the 1980s the Weybridge Society brought it back to life, through the hard work of member Jim Buckley, and there were a few modern film showings.