MAJOR changes could be in the pipeline for Malmesbury's town council offices and tourist information centre if North Wiltshire District Council agrees a plan to re-vamp the town hall.

Both offices would be moved from the side of the town hall in Market Lane, to the front of the building overlooking Cross Hayes.

The move was supported by the town council's finance and general purposes committee last Thursday.

The changes, however, will have to be approved by the district council, which owns the building.

Town clerk Edward Ferguson said that moving the tourist information centre and council offices would free up valuable space in the hall.

The vacant offices could then be rented to other users to generate more income.

He said the hall's attractive Cross Hayes entrance would also give the tourist information centre and council offices a more prestigious feel, and could make visitors more aware of the under-valued Athelstan Museum next door.

Visitors at present often miss the museum because it is situated round the corner from the tourist information office.

Mr Ferguson said the proposals tied in with discussions held by the town hall focus committee and a district council working group over the past six months, to find ways to make the town hall financially viable and user-friendly.

The group was formed after the district council said it was thinking of selling off the town hall.

It said the hall was too expensive to maintain.

Mr Ferguson said it was vital for the hall to generate income to ensure it remained the heart of community activities in Malmesbury and the surrounding villages.

He said the proposed re-arrangement of the town hall fitted in well with larger plans suggested by the working groups to knock down walls in the Cross Hayes foyer and merge the information centre and town council offices with an extended, revamped museum.

If the more ambitious scheme was approved by North Wiltshire District Council, it could take many months to obtain the planning permission and funding necessary to make substantial changes to the listed building.

Mr Ferguson said: "We can stay as we are, or we can do something proactive now.

"We can take the initiative, instead of just waiting for the district council to do something."

If the changes are given the go-ahead by the full council next month, work could begin on the relocation of the town council offices next April.

The scheme would cost in the region of £5,000.