A 'UNIQUE' meeting will be held in Tavistock next month, after town councillors yet again failed to make a definite decision on whether to leave their antiquated building in Drake Road.

The saga of the council's home rumbled on on Tuesday, after the full council rejected for a second time the recommendation made by the redevelopment committee to stay in Drake Road.

An informal full council meeting will now be convened to thrash out a decision and to allow for further information on other options to be considered.

Town clerk Roger Howard described the decision to hold a special informal meeting of the full council as 'unique' and said it could be held within the next month.

A motion to convene a special seminar in private to resolve the issue was tied at six-six, giving Mayor of Tavistock Cllr Norma Woodcock the deciding vote.

The council was evenly split between those who wished to stay in their present premises and those who supported other options, although there was no consensus about the best alternative site.

Cllr Woodcock said a decision had to be reached soon, but regretfully she had to support the motion because she was unwilling to push a decision when many members thought more information on alternative options should be examined.

Cllr Woodcock warned 'this cannot be allowed to drip on', and set a deadline of next Tuesday for members to submit details to the town clerk of information they would need to reach a decision.

Cllr Robin Pike raised the prospect of an informal council meeting to discuss solely the location of the council offices and won support from half the members.

Cllr Roger Mathew supported the recommendation to remain in Drake Road and said this was an urgent issue. 'All the information that is required is before us tonight. This council is quite able to make the decision.

'There are some councillors who wish to keep referring back until they get the decision they want,' he said.

If the Council does keep the 100 year-old listed Drake Road building, alterations at an estimated cost of £230,000 will have to be made. A fire escape and disabled access need to be installed to meet fire and safety regulations, which come into force in the next 18 months.