A scout troop with a proud history has been told to raise £100,000 or face extinction.

The 11th Spen Valley Scout Group faces the prospect of disbanding unless it is able to find the cash to rebuild its crumbling prefabricated home in Hunsworth, near Cleckheaton.

About 80 scouts, beavers, cubs and explorer scouts will be forced to find new packs or leave the scouting movement altogether if the group, which formed in 1948, finally disappears.

After several years of patching up their home on Green Lane leaders have decided a new building is essential for the group to survive.

Outline permission has been granted for an overhaul of the hall but builders have handed the group an estimate of £100,000 for the work to be carried out.

In a bid to stay in business, youngsters have raised £40,000 by holding a series of galas and sponsored walks but now face a race against time to come up with the other £60,000.

Rodney Holroyd, chairman of the group's executive committee, said they were determined to find the money from somewhere.

"We have to keep asking ourselves how long can we keep patching up the present building before it falls around our ears," he said.

"But the big question is where we get the money from? We have already been turned down by the lottery twice."

The group boasts a proud history with two members taking the two highest honours in the scouting movement, the Queen's Scout Award and the Chief Scout Award, in the last ten years. The group also regularly sends delegates to the annual worldwide scouting jamboree.

The hall, which was built during the second world war, is made of concrete panels held together by poles and bolting.

Mr Holroyd said: "It would be an absolute disaster if this scout troop were to vanish.

"There is nowhere else in the village for us to go. If we were to disappear it is inevitable that many of the youngsters would leave the movement.

"I sure some of them would find themselves roaming the streets for want of something better to do.

"The enthusiasm and experience of the leaders has helped to ensure that our members have always been encouraged to fulfil their potential.

"Our aim is develop young people to achieve their full physical, intellectual and social potential and to make them responsible members of society."