THE site of a former church hall could be transformed into a house under plans submitted to East Lothian Council.

Gladsmuir Church Hall was demolished in August but a new building could appear on the site under plans put forward by Gladsmuir Parish Church.

David Montgomery, an elder at Longniddry Parish Church, which is linked to the church in Gladsmuir, told the Courier the building had been disused for about 30 years, other than by a local group of pigeon fanciers, prior to it being torn down.

More and more people were instead using Macmerry Village Hall, with the Gladsmuir building falling into a state of disrepair.

Mr Montgomery said: “The advice that we got from [our property advisors]Chalmers and Co is it would be more advantageous to sell the site with planning permission.”

The building, which is nestled between the junction of the A199 and B6363 at the western end of the Gladsmuir, featured in the Courier’s Down Memory Lane last month.

Fran Woodrow, archivist at Haddington’s John Gray Centre, said: “The hall was built as a community space in 1926.

“Before then, people used the old school house but it was sold and the community needed a new place to gather.

“Opened in 1926 by Sir John Lorne MacLeod, the hall’s unveiling was covered in the Courier.

“Equipped with a small kitchen and a stage area, everything inside was constructed from timber panels.

“The hall was used for a wide variety of activities, including Sunday school, Bible classes, Christmas discos and the occasional wedding reception.

“During the war, the hall was leased to Cunliffe Owen Aircraft Ltd for their work involving aircraft repairs.”

Since then, it hosted meetings but, because it was on the opposite side of the road to the rest of the Gladsmuir community, it became increasingly difficult and dangerous to go to owing to increased traffic on the old A1.