COUNCILLORS have reacted angrily after they were not given details of the redevelopment of a public hall.

Barnard Castle Town Council members are angry they were not told about plans to widen the pavement outside the Witham Hall to accommodate a wheelchair ramp.

The authority heard Teesdale District councillors had been told verbally about the proposal, and is writing to the district council to say its members should also have been made aware of the issue when asked for their views on the redevelopment.

Councillor Alan Wilkinson said: "We were asked to make our minds up on something where we weren't told the whole story. If we haven't got the full information how is it that we were allowed to judge it?"

The ramp at Witham Hall is part of a series of alterations in a £6m redevelopment plan.

The town council supported the project but recommended the application should be refused because it was felt the proposed disabled access ramp was too large and out of character with the street.

Last month, the redevelopment, which includes a 176-seat theatre, a dance hall, a cafe and bar, a toddlers' play area, a technology suite and a meeting room, was approved by Teesdale District Council, subject to a compromise being reached over the design of the wheelchair ramp, which involved pavement widening.

The district council's principal planning officer, Trevor Watson, said there had been no formal proposal.

He said: "There was nothing entered on the proposals for the work to the Witham Hall and so it couldn't be relied upon in considering them."