Malmesbury Town Council is to become the new owner of Malmesbury Town Hall from April 1 next year after buying it for just £1.

A business plan, drafted by a task force of town councillors and community representatives, was last week accepted by the present owners North Wiltshire District Council.

The decision means the town council can buy the town hall complex, which includes the Athelstan Museum, and the Tourist Information Centre, from the district council.

The car park and public toilets located at the back of the hall will also be transferred to the town council.

District councillors made the decision at an executive meeting in Chippenham last Thursday night.

In a humourous touch, town councillor Patrick Goldstone, who also sits on the district council, passed a pound coin to the district council leader, Carol O'Gorman.

Coun Goldstone said: "I think it is wonderful. The town hall will be owned by the town council. It will be there for the community."

Malmesbury mayor Jacky Martin , who chaired the task force, said she was delighted the town hall had been saved.

Coun Martin and other town councillors celebrated their efforts over a glass of champagne after the meeting.

The decision clears the way for the town council to raise £758,932 for refurbishment to renovate the building and make it comply with disability access legislation.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has given the council permission to apply to borrow £500,000 from the Public Works Loan Board, to be paid back over 30 years.

And £150,000 has been pledged from the Minton Group, as part of its project to develop the former Lucent Technologies site in Malmesbury.

Most town councillors say the average Band D taxpayer in Malmesbury will have to pay an extra £26.52 a year in council tax to save the hall although this is disputed by Coun Charles Vernon who says the true costs will be higher.

The transfer will take place on April 1, All Fools Day If district councillors had rejected the business package to raise this money, the hall would have been sold.

Refurbishment, such as installing a three-door lift to improve general access could begin as early as next summer. Jane Ryall, a member of the task force, said the challenge is now to make the town hall a viable business.

She said: "Financially it is a challenge. If people want it to work it will work. We have got to find out what people want. "

Geraldine Barnett, principal of the Lilybank School of Dance, which meets at the town hall three days a week, said: "If the the district council had decided to sell the premises we really had nowhere else to go."

During last Thursday's meeting, district councillors decided the Friends of Athelstan Museum will run the museum from April 1 next year, with the district council initially taking responsibility for the museum's collection. John Darcy, chairman of the Friends of Athelstan Museum, said he was delighted.