THE whole of Tetbury is invited to an unscheduled public meeting to air their grievances about the town.

Groups, clubs and other interested parties will discuss everything from the closing of the Priory care home to what can be done about empty shops in the town in a bid to improve community spirit.

The move follows a letter sent to the town council by Malcolm Philby, owner of Tetbury Hardware, in which he said morale had reached a low.

In the letter he listed concerns residents had aired to him when they visited his shop in London Road, including long waiting times at the surgery, worries over the burial ground, the future of the Dolphins Hall, the shortage of leisure and youth facilities and concerns over the town’s infrastructure with large-scale housing developments on their way.

“Running a shop like this one we get a lot of people coming in and out, airing their concerns,” the former councillor told the Standard. "People blame this body or that body, but this meeting is a chance for everybody to sit down and get things off their chests.

“Councillors do a great job – all unpaid – and they probably don’t get the recognition they deserve.

Malcolm, who has lived in Tetbury more than 40 years, added: “There’s some things the council can’t do, but there’s no reason it can’t be a strong dialogue to get what’s best for this great town.”

The shop owner wrote the letter after “matters came to a head” when the news broke the Priory would be shutting its doors.

Councillors discussed Malcom’s letter at Tetbury Town Council at the end of January.

Cllr Brian Edge said: “Tetbury is a really nice town and people do want to come here – only last weekend there were people from Italy in town. But there are some problems.”

The council heard that certain issues, such as improving the doctor’s surgery, did not fall under their jurisdiction and so were difficult to tackle.

Cllr Colin Pearce said: “I know there’s certain things we can’t do as a council but we need to be making more noise.”

The meeting will be held on March 17 at the Dolphins Hall in New Church Street.