THE UK's Chief Scout dropped into Chalfont St Peter to boost the morale of a group which has lost its meeting hall to flood water.

The 100-strong Ist Chalfont St Peter Scouts have been without a hall for five months since their Scout hut, off the A413, Chalfont St Peter, was destroyed by rain and flood water last December.

George Purdy, Chief Scout of the UK, arrived to survey the damage and rally the troops on Wednesday evening.

He said: "It is quite evident the boys have had an awful experience with the flooding.

"It has left them short of all their facilities needed for Scouting.

"But they've got a very strong determination to get back on track as soon as possible."

Repair work to damaged floors, wrecked electric cabling and serious damp is expected to run into tens of thousands of pounds. The Scout group is insured for the repairs.

The hut was built in 1978 and was used by many community groups in Chalfont St Peter for various activities such as line dancing and judo.

Ian Gilvear, chairman of Chalfont St Peter Scout Group, explained "It's been a really hard last few months for the Scout group.

"The building was flooded for the first time on December 13 and like other places in the Misbourne valley the flood water is stuck sitting under ground.

"There's nowhere for the water to go so the building itself has been waterlogged inside."

The building will have to be dried out before repair work can begin.

Mr Gilvear added: "We don't expect to be back in until Christmas at first we thought it would only be a few weeks."