THE Bishop of Winchester has officially unveiled a controversial church hall built on top of a New Forest graveyard.

Scores of dignitaries attended the official opening of the £600,000 hall, described as the most important new building in Hordle in the past century.

More than 200 villagers, New Forest West MP Desmond Swayne and architect Columba Cook saw the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt perform the opening ceremony.

In his sermon at neighbouring All Saints Church before the opening, Bishop Michael said it had been entirely appropriate that the new hall had been built beside the church.

He praised those who helped bring the project to fruition.

The choice of site for the new hall sparked controversy among villagers because it had been used as a graveyard.

More than 1,200 people signed a petition against the project over fears that the construction work would disturb human remains interred there - something which protesters felt had come true when a human leg bone was found on the site last year.

Now those opposed to the build say sending a bishop to open the hall has not changed their views on it at all.

Leading campaigner Tim Boyce said: "What they did was wrong and the lapse in time and the visit of a bishop doesn't make it right.

"Ultimately, it will be up to people's own individual consciences whether they want to go inside the hall or not, but it doesn't seem right to me and to many others that a hall designed for enjoyment has been built on top of people's graves."

However, church spokesman the Rev Graham Smith defended the new hall, saying that it would be a valuable addition to village life.