MALVERN Town Council has pulled out of immediate plans to take over assets from the district authority.

The chief executive of Malvern Hills District Council, Chris Bocock, announced the decision at an Executive Board meeting this week as members were about to discuss the future of buildings at Sling Lane.

The land was due to be transferred to the town council.

"I had a letter today from the acting town clerk which basically suggests that as far as the town council is concerned it is no longer interested in the transfer of this land," said Mr Bocock.

Speaking following the meeting Rosemary Lansdowne, acting town clerk, said the town council had made the decision not to take any more "blanket parcels of land" from Malvern Hills District Council.

"We've already got 68 acres of land, much of which is dotted all over the place, which is very labour-intensive to maintain. We only have six operational staff and we want to concentrate on making sure we look after what we have already.

"Chris Bocock was told informally at a meeting on September 13 and by Coun Whinray Coates on September 19 that the town council would not be accepting any more land.

"MHDC recently wrote to the town council asking whether we would take on some more grass verges left over from a recent development of land in Townsend Way. I wrote back informing them we're no longer accepting any more transfers but that we're happy to assess them on a case-by-case basis."

At the meeting, the Executive Board agreed that three buildings at Sling Lane, which have attracted vandalism, should be demolished as soon as possible.