WORCESTER'S Tory council has reiterated its desire to keep all options open regarding the future of the city's historic Guildhall.

Despite demands from both the city's watchdog scrutiny committee and a cross-party working group that certain options for the 18th-century building's future - such as hiring out the ground floor to a high-street coffee chain - be dropped immediately, the ruling cabinet this week maintained its stance that nothing will be ruled out at this stage.

The next step of what has become one of the most drawn-out sagas in Worcester's recent political history - the first Guildhall working group was set up in the mid-1990s - will see a specialist consultant hired to assess how much cash could be brought in by the various ptions under consideration.

Cabinet members were once again at pains to stress that no final decisions have yet taken.

Councillor David Clarke, the cabinet member in charge of customer care and citizen engagement, said: "All that's been decided is we should get a consultant to look at various questions that have been raised, so we can make a sound decision based on all the views and comments.

"I have very strong views about the Guildhall, but we believe it would be absolutely prudent to wait until we get expert views on what can and can't be done."

Coun Geraghty did his best to appease members of the cross-party working group, who feel their advice has been ignored.

He said: "When the cabinet finally considers this matter, we will take on board the specialist advice, the officers' reports and the comments from the working party."