15021/2A PETITION with 1,400 signatures asking for Malmesbury Town Hall to be saved was presented to North Wiltshire District Council

Christine Mace, chairman of the Athelstan Players Dramatic Society, presented the petition and told councillors that the drama society and other clubs had nowhere else to go.

Mrs Mace said urgent action was needed to safeguard the building's future which the district council wants to sell after being told it would cost £770,000 to renovate and to bring in line with disability legislation.

Mrs Mace said the drama society and other clubs had nowhere else to go.

"Our drama group and other users do not know where we stand. We cannot plan ahead. Can we all go on using it until a buyer is found?

"There is nowhere else for functions to be held. Our group needs to know if the town hall can be used and we would like some indication of its future," she told the executive members of the district council last Thursday.

Mrs Mace said the heart would be ripped out of Malmesbury if the town hall were to go.

She had received a letter from a 12-year-old appealing for the town hall to be saved so that the drama club could continue.

District council leader Ruth Coleman thanked Mrs Mace for presenting the petition, and said members would consider the points raised.