EARTHQUAKE-hit villagers in Nepal are celebrating the completion of their new community centre - thanks to Rotarians based more than 4,000 miles away in Bromsgrove.

The Rotary Club of North Worcestershire raised £2,500 to help rebuild the centre in the district of Gorkha, northwest of Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, after the quake in April 2015, which measured 7.6 on the Richter scale and was followed by more than 300 aftershocks.

More than 9,000 lives were lost, 23,000 people were injured and an estimated 8 million people - almost a third of the country's population - were affected by the disaster.

It particularly disrupted the lives of disadvantaged groups in rural areas.

Golden-hearted members of the North Worcestershire club contacted Rotarians in Damauli in Nepal to ask what they could do to help.

And, as a result they got busy raising cash to forward on to their distant Rotary colleagues to reconstruct the devastated community centre at Dharmpani in Tanahun, West Nepal.

North Worcester Rotarians spokesman Dave Foster said that represented 80 per cent of the cost of reconstruction and - as Nepal is considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world - £2,500 was the equivalent of £50,000.

"Many logistical problems and challenges had to be overcome but the relationship with the villagers, and particularly with the elders of the village, was excellent as the building was completed on time, to the original brief and within budget," added Mr Foster.