GUIDES have won a 10-year battle to build a badly-needed new home.

Dorset County Council has thrown out a last-ditch bid by history campaigners to designate land known as Tutton's Well, in Christchurch, as an official village green.

They believe the site hides an ancient freshwater spring and a potential treasure trove of ancient artefacts, and want the guides to build their new HQ elsewhere.

But the Mudeford group - with some 100 members aged from five to 21 - has now been given the green light to replace the crumbling 43-year-old hut on the site, backed by a £40,000 National Lottery grant and full planning permission from Christ-church Council. Ranger Guide Irene Surgeson said: "We are delighted. Our desire has always been to remain on this site, considered to be the safest one for our girls."

Tutton's Well Preservation Society spokesman Reg Stones said further development there would cause material harm.