Residents on the Bournville Estate in Weston-super-Mare are to benefit from a £815,000 new library – thanks to a lottery grant.

North Somerset Council submitted a bid to the Big Lottery Fund last year and received initial approval.

It then had to submit business, capital development and community engagement plans to build a strong case in order for the funds to be allocated.

The fund has now announced it is giving the local authority £815,000 to create the new library at the For All Healthy Living Centre.

North Somerset is one of seven authorities in the South West region to have been awarded lottery funding to develop a new community library facility.

Work started last week and will involve enclosing an internal courtyard with a glass roof to create a new library space.

The Healthy Living Centre already has a small library facility, which is popular. It also provides information on council services and allows people to collect green waste bags and book Playhouse Theatre tickets.

The improved library facility will house 10 public computers, music CDs, DVDs and a larger collection of books.

It is hoped the facility, designed by Bristol architects Quattro, will be up and running by May 2009.

North Somerset Council leader Nigel Ashton said he was delighted that the Healthy Living Centre was going to have a new library.

He said: "The library at the Healthy Living Centre has been extremely popular but is too small to cater for the full needs of the community.

"Soon people will benefit from a fantastic new facility that will further enhance the Healthy Living Centre's role as a true community facility."

The centre, based in an area with high social and economic deprivation, opened its doors in 2006 having been created through a partnership of local residents and organisations.

Together they were able to attract a range of funding to offer a GP surgery, community hall and café, a combined Anglican and Methodist Church, a Children's Centre, a local authority information point and small library as well as meeting and training spaces.

It is run by an independent board consisting of five partner agencies and six local residents.