BUILDING work on Bovey Tracey’s long-awaited community hub will begin later this month.

The town’s new multi-use centre will be built on the site of the Old Thatched Inn in Station Road.

The popular pub burned down in July 2008 and since then the site has lain empty and boarded up.

By next year the eyesore at the entrance to the town will be gone and in its place the new centre will stand a state-of-the-art carbon-neutral building.

The hub will provide new offices for the town council, which currently resides in rooms below the distillery in the old town hall.

Work began this week in the Station Road car park on constructing a separate new workshop and store for council staff and equipment.

Scheduled to open next summer, the centre will provide new facilities for the community at large, including a new public library, an information centre and public toilets.

There will also be four incubator offices available to let for small businesses, as well as a community meeting space.

Cllr George Gribble, town mayor, said: ‘This has been a long time coming with a lot of hard work put in by a small number of committed people over recent years, and I’m really pleased that construction is starting.

‘It is hoped that the centre will be widely used by all within the community and will become a hub for accessing a number of services, under one roof.

‘The council has chosen Devon Contractors to do the construction work and we are looking forward to them arriving on-site and getting the work underway.’

As the work commences on the main build, displays will be put up in Bovey Tracey Library and Bovey Tracey Information Centre, where the public can view floor plans and elevations of how the building will look along with regular progress updates.

These are hoped to remain on display throughout the construction period, and will also be available to view on the town council website www.boveytracey.gov.uk.