A DILAPIDATED 19th-century Southampton chapel has been brought back to life with some unwanted odds and ends.

When the burial chapel in Southampton Common's historic cemetery was built 150 years ago, little did people realise that it would become a charity scrap store.

But that is exactly what the grade II listed non-conformist chapel has been turned into.

Originally opened by the then Bishop of Winchester in 1846, the disused chapel has been re-launched as a storage facility for the Southampton-based charity Scrapstore.

Scrapstore chairman Geoff Charnley said: "It is a win, win situation for both the chapel, for us and the council who still own the building."

A cash injection of £116,500 from the Onyx Environmental Trust has enabled the 20-year-old independent charity Scrapstore to expand and lease the chapel for 20 years from the city council on a "peppercorn" rent.

Based at the Eastpoint Centre in Burgoyne Road, Thornhill, Scrapstore collects and redistributes non-toxic and unwanted industrial and office scrap materials.

More than 350 members of the charity, from local schools to community groups, benefit nearly 18,000 Southampton residents with arts and crafts materials supplied by the charity.

The converted chapel was used for non-Christian burials at the Common cemetery, one of the largest in the city. But in the 1960s it was closed and it has been disused ever since.

Now the storage facility has been fitted out with shelving supplied free of charge by B&Q which will enable the charity to continue supplying the city's community groups with creative arts materials. The grant will also pay for a new marketing and membership manager, Jennie Rawles.

She said: "We hope the community will celebrate that this lovely building has now been given a new lease of life. It's going to provide a dry and highly secure storage facility, which will enable the charity to expand."

If you have any unwanted materials to donate to Scrapstore, call John Marsh on 023 8025 2816.