FOUR sites have been shortlisted as possible new homes for Richmondshire District Council.

Colburn Business Park is the front-runner, having been backed by senior officers and political leaders.

Also under consideration for a purpose-built base are two locations in Richmond - the council's depot on the Gallowfields Trading Estate and 12 acres of land near the cemetery in Reeth Road.

The other option is the extension and major refurbishment of Swale House, one of the authority's four existing premises in Richmond.

Councillors will now visit the sites and officers have been asked to draw up more detailed reports on each one.

The office accommodation working party drew up the shortlist from options put forward by officers.

The meeting last week rejected conversion of Richmond's former railway station, which was deemed too small and is set aside in the local plan for leisure use.

Other sites deleted included Richmond swimming pool, open land at the edge of town on Darlington Road, the Gallowfields Trading Estate extension near Racecourse Road and the future Scotch Corner Business Park.

Members agreed that the current office accommodation, spread throughout the town in dilapidated buildings, was unsuitable for staff and the public.

Several members of the public attended the meeting to voice their concerns that the council was considering moving out of Richmond.

Local historian Jane Hatcher said the name Richmondshire was chosen for the authority in 1974 because the district's administrative and cultural heart was Richmond.

Quitting the town and taking 150 workers elsewhere would hit local trade, she added.

Bev Joicey, chairman of the civic society, said the move to Colburn would represent a vote of no confidence in Richmond.

Harry Tabiner, council chief executive, said the proposals were not based on a desire to quit Richmond but on how to best provide services in the area.

"There is no anti-Richmond aspect to this," he said. "We would be delighted to stay in Richmond if that was where the best suitable accommodation could be provided, but our investigations suggest that Colburn is the most appropriate site."

Colburn Business Park was identified by officers as the best site for a purpose-built headquarters, as it was fully serviced, including broadband computer technology, was in the district's centre of greatest population and the council's presence would act as a catalyst to attract other business to the area.

The authority has asked Yorkshire Forward, which is developing the business park, to earmark the prime frontage site for the possible project.

* Minutes of the working party meeting are available to the public at the council offices