IT was a full house at Porlock Village Hall for the first community meal.

The new monthly meal was organised by resident Denise Sage in tandem with Village Agent Debbie Dennis with the idea of bringing the community together.

The meals are completely free, with any donations going toward projects in the village - the first of which is to try and raise money for a new defibrillator for the village.

Village Agent for the Porlock Area Mrs Dennis said: "It is fantastic to see the place so full for the inaugural community lunch. I have seen this sort of thing work in other parishes and hopefully we can make it a regular thing."

The hope is to hold the community lunch every third Tuesday of the month at the Village Hall.

Former Porlock Visitor Centre manager Denise Sage, has been heavily involved in getting the event up and running.

"I often thought Porlock could benefit from an event to bring the community together, and since retiring I have a bit more time to put into projects like this," Mrs Sage said.

"I spoke with Debbie and we worked to get this off the ground.

"I think it will provide a place for people young and old to get together and socialise, exchange ideas and enjoy a meal together.

"We started off with a soup day because I thought that we could cope with soup! However as it progresses we will look at different themed lunches for each month.

Mrs Sage said that the first project she wanted to raise money for was a defibrillator for the village.

"Before we even started today we have raised more than £600, just through word of mouth, I've even had donations popped through my letter box from generous residents!"

She explained that if people got in touch, then the team could even organise transport to and from the community meal.

"It is great to see so many people attend the first one and bodes well for the future," Mrs Sage said.

The next community meal is due to take place on Tuesday, July 19.