THE ROOF has come down and the wheels are in motion to rebuild a deteriorating base for some 250 girl guides in Kidlington.

Girlguiding Kidlington have welcomed in the bulldozers to start the demolition after more than seven years of fundraising to rebuild the centre which originally opened in 1973.

For years hundreds of girls, young women and leaders have had to put up with the concrete prefabricated building in Green Road which has long been damaged by vandals and in one instance by squirrels burying into the roof.

Brownie leader Sarah Eyles said the building only had an anticipated life span of about 25 years and by the time the group started considering a rebuild the building was well past its sell-by date.

She said: "It has been 11 long years but it is finally happening and we can't really believe it.

"We moved out at the end of last month and closed the doors for the last time.

"It was obviously very sad but also exciting, it will be quite a similar building but with more space and hopefully will be vandal proof."

The group have dedicated hundreds of hours over the past decade to planning and fundraising, impressively racking up approximately £120,000 towards the project.

This along with a £100,000 loan from Cherwell District Council meant after a long road to redevelopment the builders Moors Construction were able to get on site last week.

Kidlington Girlguiding say the original building was showing signs of wear and tear including the concrete which is degrading, rotten wooden doors and windows and the cement roofing panels were starting to sag under their accumulation of 35 years worth of moss.

All windows along one side of the building has also been boarded up to protect from regular vandal attacks.

Plans for the new building include replacing the single storey building with a new centre which has a steeper pitched roof to make room for a balcony-style floor for overnight stays.

There will also be more space to store various equipment in a more secure and dry space within the building and also disabled access will be improved on the exiting building which was pre-regulatory standards currently.

Ms Eyles added: "The money we have raised so far is basically for the building works, so we are now looking into crowdfunding for the actual furnishings.

"All of our stuff was very old, we are going to need a new kitchen, furnishings such as blinds and flooring.

"But it was important to get things started and now we can look at the next stage of fundraising."

The Girlguiding group, which includes two Rainbow packs, four Brownie packs, three guide units, senior section and a Trefoil group, is in a temporary building currently but hopes to be back at home their new home in eight months.

For more details on the group see girlguidingkidlington.org.uk or to donate to the project text GGKI12 £2/£5/£10 to 70070