THE day-to-day management of Bedford Square in Tavistock will be taken on by the town council in the new year for a trial period of 12 months.

The agreement was made at the West Devon partnership committee meeting in Okehampton on Monday.

Town clerk Roger Howard said his office now keeps a diary for bookings and anyone wishing to use the paved area of Bedford Square is welcome to do so on a first come, first served basis.

'Essentially, the square is free for the taking — the more the merrier,' said Mr Howard.

'It's there as a facility, people just need to phone us up.'

He said there will be no charge for use of the square provided users do not require removal of seats and bins.

Cllr Gretta Madigan welcomed the move but thought the square needed cheering up.

'One thing that seems to be lacking is some decoration — flower tubs or something,' she said.

Cllr Bill Cann questioned the wisdom of the town council managing the square.

'How much power would they have? The tail could be wagging the dog very quickly — we know some people would like to see the paving slabs removed tomorrow.' he said.

Local services officer Mike Parnell said the town council was the best authority to deal with the square as it was 'on the doorstep'.

'Bedford Square is a public highway and only the highway authority can do anything with it,' he said.

Mr Parnell said Cllr Madigan's suggestion could be taken up by the monitoring group which will meet quarterly to discuss how the management of the square is working and make recommendations in light of data collected.

Mayor of Tavistock Roger Mathew said: 'The area is no different from any other public area — keeping it clean and tidy is the responsibility of the borough, possession remains with the highway authority and the town council is simply being asked to manage bookings.'

The committee agreed the monitoring group would be composed of two representatives from Tavistock Access Group, the Business Association, Chamber of Commerce, Civic Society, taxi proprietors, the town, borough and county councils.

Non-voting members are Kelvin Stagg, of Tavistock Tourist Information Centre, David Incoll, borough chief executive and Mike Parnell.