EVESHAM Town Council is set to take legal action after its attempts to have the ground floor of the town hall cleaned up failed to achieve results.

Furious councillors demanded action after clerk Frank Green revealed that letters to the lessees and sub-lessees of the site had been ignored.

It is more than a month since the clerk wrote to Nelson Bakewell, agents acting on behalf of the lessees, Riverside Shopping Centre owners Axa Sunlife.

Mr Green told the council that when he followed up the letter with a telephone call, the company confirmed that it had been received. However, no answer had been forthcoming.

The council had also written to the sub-lessees, Solihull-based pub chain Enterprise Inns.

A week or so after that letter was sent, the committee heard, "a large vehicle arrived outside the town hall and a number of men proceeded to clean up the interior of the ground floor".

Cllr John Smith, who is also responsible for the environment on Worcestershire County Council, told the meeting: "I think it is an absolute disgrace that we have written to the tenants and the sub-tenants and have not even had the decency of an acknowledgement.

"We have got to do something. A number of people have commented on the disgraceful state of the town hall. They think it is the fault of the town council."

He was supported by Cllr John Payne, who called for the council to take action to resolve the situation.

Later in closed session, a report from the clerk revealed that legal advice had been sought, and suggested that before action a latter should be sent by solicitors acting on behalf of the town council followed by a Notice of Dilapidations should it be ignored. This is a claim for damages to cover the cost of repair work should the council go ahead and carry out the work should the lessee fail to do so.

No-one from Enterprise Inns was avialable for comment as the Journal went to press.