CHURCHGOERS are being asked to fork out £220,000 towards the construction of a controversial hall which has bitterly divided a New Forest village.

Hordle vicar Canon Michael Anderson has appealed to his congregation to make monthly donations of anything between £5 and £40 towards the new complex to be built on the graveyard next to All Saints' Church - which is to cost around £100,000 more than first estimated.

Church chiefs hope the contributions will be beefed up by the government's gift aid scheme for taxpayers, and hope to reach their target within four years.

But objectors to the hall project insist the appeal will place an unnecessary burden on many elderly parishioners and are urging the church to reconsider proposals for a different location which would have mass support, and cost about £100,000 less.

In a leaflet distributed to church members, Canon Anderson pegs the two-storey hall's projected costs at £570,000 for construction, plus possible expenses of £25,000.

While £375,000 will come from the planned sale of the village's memorial hall site, plus £50,000 from grants and existing funds, the remainder will have to be raised by churchgoers.

Canon Anderson says the target can be achieved within four years through 200 regular donors, and is calling on members to make a commitment this Sunday, which will be a day of "prayer and pledges" at the church.

But Objectors Action Committee leader Tim Boyce says the appeal does not make economic sense - and that building on the spare land at Hordle Nurseries across the road would be a much better option for the plans.

"We have heard from churchgoers who are shocked at the amount of money involved," he explained.

"When you consider the size of the congregation has diminished, and many are retired or elderly, this is asking a lot.

Yet the alternative proposal would cost around £100,000 less, and would have much wider public support because it would not involve building on graves or cause traffic problems in the road."