GOLDIGGERS campaigner Paul Hargreaves lambasted local politicians at a meeting of North Wiltshire District Council on Tuesday for allowing the former nightclub and cinema to be destroyed.

Mr Hargreaves, a founder member of POGG, formerly the Preservation of Gaumont Goldiggers and now called Promotion of Good Government, stood up at the full council meeting and slated members for agreeing to the demolition of the art deco building, to make way for retirement flats and shops. He read out the names of the members who had voted for the project.

He said: "It is clear the Liberal Democrats are responsible for this act of vandalism, and they have been aided and abetted by the very people whose job it is to protect the interests of this community," he said.

He said the local authority was spending thousands of pounds on public consultations but taking no notice of the result. "At the current rate of sales how long will the assets last and finally, how does the authority propose to balance the books when there is nothing left to sell?" he said.

Mr Hargreaves was angry the council rejected two plans he believed would have retained the building for the community the first being from a consortium of business people who wanted to revamp the nightclub and the Station Hill Baptist Church, who wanted to create a community and Christian resource centre.

District council leader Coun Ruth Coleman said last week the £1.8 million the council received for sale of the site will help the council provide affordable housing and new facilities for young people across the district.

But Coun Christine Reid said after the meeting that a detailed decision has not been made and it is a policy never to earmark particular funding for a particular project.

She added that affordable housing and youth facilities are a priority in the budget, and recycling is another.