A PARISH council meeting ended in chaos in Lyneham when the chairman called a sudden halt to proceedings after just 45 minutes.

Chairman Geoff Jackson-Haines stopped the Lyneham and Bradenstoke Parish Council at only the fourth item on the 15-strong agenda after an off-the-cuff remark by another of the councillors about the pointless nature of the discussion.

At that point Coun Jackson-Haines brought his chairman's gavel down and closed the meeting, leaving the ten members of the public present open-mouthed in disbelief.

He refused to explain his decision to the Gazette.

Councillors were half way through agenda item four, consideration of matters arising from public participation. At the start of the evening local people had asked a number of questions, as part of the public participation session before the meeting at the Church Hall.

The item which brought matters to a close concerned a question about repainting a disabled bay outside the village hall. Coun Jackson-Haines said re-painting the disabled bay had been discussed twice before by the parish council.

It was that point another councillor made a remark and the chairman ended the meeting.

Tom Blundell, 73, of Argosy Road, Lyneham, said: “I have never seen anything like it in the 15 years that I have been going.

“For years I was the only member of the public to attend the parish council meetings and I have always helped out with the parish, putting new windows in bus shelters etc, I’m not sure what the way forward will be.

“Questions were being answered but they were being answered with no respect for the questioner.”

Former Calne town council clerk Ann Kingdon, 67, of Calne Road, Lyneham, said: “I found it very bizarre and I was quite shocked, it took me a few minutes to realise what they had done, that the chairman had actually ended the meeting.

“I have never experienced anything like it in my working life.”

Among the 15 agenda items on Tuesday which went undecided were plans to form two new working groups on emergency planning and memorials and approving three new policies, on health and safety, data protection and records management.

A Neighbourhood Plan report from Coun John Webb and plans for future Britain in Bloom entries by Lyneham and Bradenstoke were also not discussed.

Lyneham and Bradenstoke received a silver award in the South West in Bloom competition this year and Coun Jack Pollard said after the meeting: “People put a lot of effort in. Our first time entering the main competition, it’s a big step; we took on board the advice last year and came out with silver.”

The next scheduled meeting of the parish council is on November 10. Parish clerk Jacquie Henly said on Wednesday it is now expected that a meeting will be held before that to conclude matters from Tuesday's agenda.