AT its last full meeting before the local council elections, Marlborough Town Council has once again been urged to do something about the Dobson's Garage site at the junction of New Street and Barn Street, which has remained derelict for five years.

During the public question session, resident David Sharratt called for a blight order on the site, in an effort to get the new owners to make it safe.

He said: "At one of the main entrances to the town you have got an absolute heap. There are now signs up saying the roof of the building has collapsed and that it is a dangerous structure. How can the town council let this situation continue for so long?"

Coun David Watson said: "There is a section of the Planning Act that can be enforced by the district council but the town council can do nothing."

Coun Hilary Cripps said she had contacted Kennet District Council which had agreed to look at the wall in front of the former filling station.

She said: "I told them the wall is dangerous and could fall on a child, but until it agrees it is in a dangerous condition, it has no power to do anything."

Coun Tony Skittrall said Kennet District Council had turned down a planning application to renovate and reopen the site as a filling station because it was unhappy about an exit on to Barn Street.

He said: "They confirmed at that meeting that the condition of the wall is not a planning matter."

The condition of the garage and the wall in front of it has been the subject of much discussion in recent years, mainly because the town's war memorial is in front of it.

Following an appeal from the local branch of the Royal British Legion, the town council looked at moving it, but the cost proved prohibitive.