By Holly Robinson and Morwenna Blake

MONTHS of talks about the future of St Margaret's Hall in Bradford on Avon have ended with a decision to keep it for the town.

Bradford Town Council agreed on Tuesday to accept a transfer deal offered by West Wiltshire District Council following weeks of negotiations.

Bradford mayor Vicky Landell Mills said it was very exciting news and the council was hoping the transfer would go ahead in April.

She said: "We have now agreed that what they offered to us is acceptable. It does have to go through the district council committees, but from the point of view of the town council we have welcomed the opportunity."

The councils are now working towards a possible transfer date of April 1 next year, providing district councillors and Environment Secretary John Prescott approve the deal.

In August 1999 the district council carried out a far-reaching leisure review of council buildings in Trowbridge, Westbury, Warminster, Melksham and Bradford on Avon.

It concluded that the buildings were proving to be too much of a drain on the district council's financial resources.

The recommendation was that the town councils buy and run the halls themselves.

A district council spokesman said all of the west Wiltshire transfer deals involving community halls must be rubber-stamped by the Government because they are being transferred at less than the market rate.

Cllr Landell Mills said: "There is a lot of work to be done to set up the management structure and how it will develop, but we are all very excited.

"We hope that the town will back us in this by using it more."

District councillors are expected to look at the transfer at their December policy meeting.

St Margaret's Hall, which sits next to the River Avon, was one of many buildings in the town to be affected by the floods.

Town councillors inspected the damage on Monday.

Cllr Landell Mills said: "Unfortunately the hall flooded inside and the sprung floor was affected. It will be covered by the existing insurance."

The hall was run by the town council until 1974 when West Wiltshire District Council was created. The council also ran it for a short time in the 1980s until it was handed back because of issues over European legislation.

l PLANS for Westbury Town Council to buy the Laverton building finally seem to be moving ahead.

The Laverton is one of the most historic buildings in Westbury.

It was gifted to the town by Abraham Laverton in 1873.

The town council has used the building since 1974, leasing it from the district council.

A sticking point in the negotiations with the district council has been the improvements that the building needs.

At present disabled access is very limited. This will have to be rectified by the time new legislation comes into effect in 2004.

To meet the required standards the Grade 2 listed building will need work costing in the region of £70,000.

Talks have been going on for several months regarding the possibility of using money offered by Westbury Leigh developers, Persimmon Homes.

The funds will become available if Persimmon is given permission to use a site previously intended for community buildings at Westbury Leigh to build four to five further houses instead.

David Thorton, managing director of Persimmon Homes, said that the original idea came from the district council.

It is felt by many that the opening of the new Westbury Leigh community hall at the Holy Trinity Church makes it unnecessary to go ahead with Persimmon's plans.

Dr Nigel Salisbury of the Westbury Leigh Community Project said: "We aren't hugely bothered either way. It does seem unnecessary to build another one within a quarter of a mile."

Westbury mayor John Clegg hopes that there will be representatives from all interested parties, including Persimmon Homes, at the next town council meeting on November 13.