SCOUTS in Halesowen are a step nearer to replacing their worn out minibus after securing a £5,000 Dudley Council grant.

District commissioner Ian Dale successfully pleaded for the funding from the Belle Vale/Hayley Green and Cradley South Community Forum.

The grant means the 1st Halesowen Scouts are just £3,000 off the £28,000 needed to replace their clapped out J-reg vehicle.

Councillor Donella Russell questioned whether parents could not transport the children, but Mr Dale warned Scouts would miss out on activities if a minibus was not provided.

He said: “We offer an immense range of activities, which are not always in Halesowen, and the further you go the more prohibitive it becomes for parents. For example we take children to Wales and London – parents could not take them there.”

The group is the largest in the area, with 190 members aged six to 25-years-old and needs to run two minibuses.

Mr Dale said the vehicles were also used by other organisations and Earls and Windsor high schools on an ad hoc basis.