URGENT repairs to Malmesbury’s Town Hall were approved unanimously by Malmesbury Town Council at a meeting on Tuesday night.

Due to wear and tear caused by the weather a part of the building on the north west side on Market Street has begun to bulge, requiring repairs by skilled stonemasons as soon as possible.

Briefing the council on the details town clerk Jeff Penfold assured members that he was confident in the risk assessment done by the craftsmen and that there was no danger to the public despite the urgency of the work.

He explained: “What I would suggest is that we do all the high level work and the urgent work then call time and look at what else the council would like to spend money on, or not.”

The council agreed that leaving the current scaffolding on the town hall was the most cost effective way forward but due to the intricate nature of the work, to be done by hand and stone by stone, it will cost around £42,000, including extension of the scaffolding and use of an electric hoist for moving the stones.

It was agreed that this money would be taken out of the town council’s reserves and the council apologised in advance to the public for the work needing to continue.

Mayor of Malmesbury Sue Poole said: “That’s very unfortunate but that’s why we have reserves and why it’s important we don’t spend every penny we raise.”

 “Old buildings do need to be maintained and when we took the building on we knew money had not been spent on it in a long time.”

“Either we do it or the town hall starts falling down.”

The progress of the work may be hampered by the weather but it expected to start in the near future and last for around 12 weeks.

The Town Council is in discussions with Wiltshire Council about where the scaffolding will be as the pavement or Market Street will almost certainly not be wide enough to accommodate it.