A community bandstand, which was destroyed by strong winter winds, is on the mend.

Work is being undertaken to ensure that the bandstand at Greenhill Gardens in Weymouth is up and running in time for the summer.

The bandstand, which has helped raise money to maintain the gardens, was destroyed by a spate of strong winds at the end of last year and was left in pieces.

Barbara Dubben, chairman of The Friends of Greenhill Gardens (FOGG), said the wind blew up the structure’s canvas ripping the front off and sending parts of the bandstand flying on to the Esplanade.

FOGG were forced to cancel their annual Christmas service as a result of the incident.

There was concern that the repairs would cost a significant amount of money and the bandstand would not be fixed in time for the garden’s summer programme.

The incident also came at a difficult time for FOGG which was in the process of finding funding for a new arch in the gardens.

The bandstand was purchased more than five years ago after a long fundraising campaign.

Mrs Dubben said the group was ‘reluctant’ to use the money earmarked for the new project to fix the bandstand.

She said: “We ring-fenced the money for the new arch and found that we had enough in our emergency funds to pay for a new canvas roof.”

FOGG has dipped into its emergency reserves to help repair part of the bandstand and a new structure to take the canvas roof and sides has been erected.

Mrs Dubben said the community and FOGG volunteers came together to raise money to repair the bandstand’s metal work.

She added: “We have been determined to have the bandstand up and running in time for the summer programme and have had to get a welder to put some of the pieces back together.

“It is due to our volunteers and the community that the metal work has been completed.”

The bandstand is scheduled to be fixed by May, when musical events are set to start.

Musical events in the gardens are popular with locals and visitors and include a variety of genres.