PARISH councillors will press ahead with an application for a loan of £215,000 to pay for improvements to Hutton Rudby Village Hall.

Members approved the plan at the monthly meeting on Thursday of last week, despite opposition from some residents who did not want to see the parish precept increased by about 50pc to pay for the 25-year loan.

But, having agreed to the application, the parish council voted to increase next year's precept by just £500 to £17,500 and pay the first year's repayments on the loan from its reserves of about £30,000.

About 40 members of the public attended the meeting, and though the consensus of opinion was that the village hall should be repaired and preserved, most did not want to see money spent on extra facilities.

An earlier referendum among villagers on whether to seek a loan was scrapped after the parish council admitted a clause regarding un-returned votes being counted in favour of the proposal was misguided.

Several members of the public claimed most villagers did not want the extra facilities and called on the parish council chairman, Coun Judith Follows, to announce the result of the referendum.

Steve Robinson said: "It's like the clock that struck 13 - if this is wrong, what else is wrong?

"I challenge you to give us the result of the vote and carry out another proper vote."

This was echoed by Tony Francis, who said: "We are still entitled to know the result of the vote."

Coun Follows replied: "The vote was flawed and there is no point in looking at something that was only for information. We did not have to ask people for their opinion, and the vote that was undertaken was not legally binding."

Stan Lennox, a former parish councillor for Rudby, was one of those who spoke in favour of the village hall scheme.

He said: "The parish council's job is to look after the facilities in this village.

"We are talking about a little bit of money that will give us a first-class village hall for another 50 years."

Having closed the public section of the meeting, members went on to discuss setting the precept and whether or not to apply for the £215,000 loan.

Coun Peter Markey's motion to increase the precept to £20,000 was not seconded, but Coun Stuart Roberts' subsequent motion to set it at £17,500 was approved by eight votes to one.

A further proposal by Coun Roberts that the parish council apply for a loan from the Public Works Loan Board, should it receive borrowing approval, was carried by the same margin.

Coun Roberts said: "This money is going to improve the quality of life in this village. It's not going to the police in Northallerton or the fire brigade miles away - it's for this village alone."

Coun Follows said later that borrowing approval had been given verbally, but the parish council was still awaiting written confirmation from the Deputy Prime Minister's office.

* See letters: page 21