TOWN and district councillors have been strongly criticised on the delays in getting the £1.2m Malmesbury Town Hall regeneration project off the ground.

Plans for the revamp were revealed three months ago, but no decision has yet been made as to who will own the building once work has been completed.

North Wiltshire District Council said it did not want to continue with its ownership after the renovation.

The town council said it would be willing to run the town hall but did not want the responsibility of ownership.

At a meeting on Friday it was suggested that ownership could be transferred to a trust made up of councillors and representatives of groups which use the town hall.

The Friends of Athelstan Museum, who are applying for a lottery grant of £200,000 to provide a bigger museum as part of the scheme, want the town and district council to decide as soon as possible.

The Friends said the grant process would take six months and they needed to know by Christmas how the town hall will be run.

Roger Griffin, the Friends project co-ordinator, said: "The lottery is not going to give us money for the museum unless we are very specific about how it will be run."

Mr Griffin said he would like to see more enthusiasm from the town council to bring plans forward.

Mayor Charles Vernon said the council was not prepared to take on the financial burden of repairs.

He said: "Of the £1 million or so needed for the town hall, £500,000 is for repairs. The town council feels this cost is likely to recur in 20 years.

"With our budget of £100,000 we don't think it would be appropriate to take it on."

He said the town hall should be controlled locally and he supported the idea of a trust as owner.

But he said that although the council would pursue the idea of the trust, it could not put forward a timetable on when the matter would be resolved.