A PUBLIC meeting called to discuss the state of a County Durham market town's crumbling castle walls has been put on hold amid hopes of a breakthrough in talks to resolve who is responsible for maintaining the historic monument.

Part of Barnard Castle's walls facing onto Bridgegate collapsed four years ago and have yet to be repaired due to a row between Raby Estates, English Heritage and Durham County Council over who is responsible for repairs.

The state of the walls was raised at Barnard Castle Town Council's annual meeting earlier this month and resulted in the launch of a petition demanding urgent action which has been signed by more than 1,000 people.

This led to a public meeting being arranged for Wednesday, June 5, at Teesdale Leisure Centre, Barnard Castle.

However, Stuart Timmiss, head of planning and assets at Durham County Council, asked town councillor Thom Robinson, who helped set up the meeting with community campaigners, if it could be put on hold.

Mr Timmiss said: “We have done this because we now believe that, thanks in part to recent public concerns, there appears to be a renewed desire amongst both English Heritage and Raby Estates to resolve the matter of maintenance.

“Given the sensitive stage of these discussions, the council does not believe it is in anyone’s interests to have a public meeting at this particular time.”

Coun Robinson said campaigners had initially agreed to postpone the meeting for two weeks and would be willing to cancel it altogether if a way forward could be reached.

“The whole point of the public meeting is to galvanise the three agencies involved into solving the problem of the castle walls.

“If we can solve the problem without a public meeting, so much the better.”

Coun Robinson added: “That said, they have had four years and if they cannot come up with something, the people of the town really need to have some answers.”

Mr Timmiss added: “We are pleased that matters appear to be progressing and will continue to do everything we can to bring about a speedy resolution.

“The council has already identified that, whilst it has no ownership responsibilities, it is willing to commit resources to help identify the solution to the problem.”