WELLINGTON Town Council is to return to the United Reformed Church for its monthly meetings.

The council had been using the main hall at Court Fields School in recent times to allow for social distancing among councillors, council staff and members of the public to try and reduce the threat of spreading Covid-19.

But now the Government has lifted restrictions, the council has voted in favour of returning to the church hall in Fore Street.

Cllr Marcus Barr, speaking at the council’s latest monthly meeting, said: "I would propose that we go back to the United Reformed Church.

"We have to look at the costs involved in hiring the school hall and hiring the sound equipment. We can’t keep spending money on a big hall when we don’t need it."

The Mayor, Cllr Mark Lithgow, agreed with Cllr Barr and said he was ’pushing on an open door’.

"I’ve attended lots of meetings recently where we are back to normal," said the Mayor.

The WWN reported in December that councillors had decided to continue using the school hall for their meetings at a cost of £470 a month - a whopping £435 more than their pre-Covid-19 venue.

The WWN discovered that the costs of hiring Court Fields and the United Reformed Church Hall differed greatly.

Town clerk Dave Farrow said the cost of hiring Court Fields School was £120 and the use of a proper sound system was an extra £350, while the hire of the smaller United Reformed Church Hall for the monthly one-night of meetings was just £35.

The cost of hiring Court Fields and equipment for the meetings from January to March has totalled £1,410 - in comparison to just £105 had the council used the United Reformed Church Hall.

Councillors have now voted in favour of returning to the United Reformed Church from April onwards, but have thanked Court Fields School for being its ’meeting venue’ and to the company for the sound equipment.