COTSWOLD farmer Adam Henson who is known to millions as one of the presenters on BBC TV's Countryfile, spoke of his pride for the village of Bourton as he cut the ribbon to the village's new community centre.

The opening of the George Moore Community Centre on Saturday was the culmination of four years' planning by the parish council and a band of volunteers.

It has provided the parish with a first-class facility for functions and meetings. As well as home to the parish council, it houses a police hub, cafe, private flats and independent businesses. There are two function rooms, equipped with tables and chairs, available for private hire.

It originally opened in 1928 as a cottage hospital by the Moore family.

Mr Henson told onlookers: "I travel all over the country and the world but always feel there is no place like home. Bourton is where my parents live and it's where I grew up. I played in the streets here and know it well.

"I am proud to have been asked to open this magnificent building. We don't realise quite how much work goes on behind the scenes from a lot of people, many of them volunteers who give hours and hours of their time for us. It is something for us all to enjoy in the community and it is with thanks to people like Rotary for getting involved and for the Moore family who still supports the community.

Parish council chairman Bryan Sumner told the large crowd of people, including Cotswold district councillors, who had come to witness the ribbon cutting that it was a proud moment for him. He said the project first started in November 2010 with a meeting in Westminster and concluded in March 2013 when Gloucestershire County Council purchased the building from the Primary Care Trust. Today it is owned and run by the parish council.

"It is wonderful to be in a position of officially being able to open the community centre and I thank everyone who has been involved. It is also fitting that one person here, Dorothy Bridges, was present at the first official opening ceremony of the hospital in 1928," he said.

Councillor Sumner, on behalf of the parish council and volunteers, received a community service award and cheque from Hugh Collins, president of the North Cotswolds Rotary Club, for outstanding service to the local community, and in particular for the work done over several yeas to acquire, develop and open the community centre.