THE town hall at Marlborough continues to be a major drain on the town council finances it was revealed on Monday.

Despite the efforts of a working party set up to promote greater use of the 102 year old building it remains a white elephant the annual parish meeting heard.

Over the past year the Town Council spent £210,000 on a major refurbishment of the exterior of the building, completed just before last June's royal visit for the 800th Charter Anniversary celebrations.

Yet over the same year, council finance chairman Stewart Dobson told the meeting, the hall's income fell by £6,000 over the previous year.

Despite a massive overspend during the last financial year Marlborough Town Council had still been able to set a lower precept than a year ago, the meeting heard.

About 20 electors from Marlborough and Manton attended the meeting held in the town hall.

Finance and general purposes committee chairman Coun Dobson said the amount of the overspend came to light when Town Clerk Graham Gittins returned after a long spell of sick leave.

Coun Dobson said: "The town clerk has promptly addressed this problem and we have taken steps to improve the situation.

"The problem was caused through a combination of factors which could not have been predicted at the start of the council year."

He said the budget shortfall of around £13,000 was largely due to :

n a £6,000 reduction in income for the town hall;

n cemetery takings down £3,000;

n hire of open spaces and sports pitches down £1,000;

n the £2,500 cost of setting up the council web site;

n £1,000 to erect a Christmas tree on The Green and for purchasing new lights;

n £4,000 renovation of one of the council-owned flats in Kingsbury Street.

Coun Dobson said: "The town hall continues to be a major drain on our resources. Over the years different councils have tried to find a solution.

"We must of course do our utmost to keep the building in good shape.

"Yet as a large Victorian building I doubt very much whether we shall ever generate enough income to cover our ever-increasing repair costs."

Coun Dobson added that Coun David Parker was chairman of a working group looking at ways of promoting the use of the hall.

Commenting on other falling incomes Coun Dobson said: "I do not believe that we can do very much about increasing the use of the cemetery at least not legally."