STEPS are at last being taken by Winchester civic chiefs to use the money left by the Bapsy Bequest.

For years the city council has struggled to spend the £500,000 bequest by the Marchioness of Winchester, Bapsybanoo Pavry.

The amount has grown to £1.1m since her death in 1995, before which time she requested it be spent on a new community hall next to the city's Guildhall.

However, city councillors do not think that is the best way to spend the money - particularly as the bequest was initiated in the early 1950s, before the Guildhall was revamped into a community centre.

Instead councillors want the bequest to be used to improve access for the disabled and elderly at the Guildhall.

At present access to the Guildhall is "clumsy and uninviting", according to a report by city secretary Stephen Whetnall and director of community services, Steve Tilbury.

A design produced by Daniel Forshaw Design and Conservation Architects produced "a much improved design for all users and in particular for disabled people. It would also make the building easier to manage and make better use of space than at present," the report said.

But the council must secure the approval of the Charity Commission to use the bequest in this way, as it differs from the exact terms of the bequest.

The works needed would be substantial, but once completed need not have major implications for existing uses of the Guildhall.

Council leader Sheila Campbell said: "The Guildhall has been transformed since the days when the bequest was made.

"At the moment we have a grand entrance, which makes it inaccessible to all but the able-bodied. This is no longer acceptable in the 21st century."

She also said if councillors could make the conference chamber in the hall into two spaces, that would be worth doing and would be the subject of a further feasibility study.

One room could be a high quality venue for council meetings and other public organisations. The other could have a more flexible function.

The Cabinet agreed to approve the Forshaw scheme as a basis for using the bequest. It will also be looked at by the principal scrutiny committee.

Councillors also agreed that the cost and technical implications of making better use of the conference chamber should be investigated.