SKIPTON Town Hall's letting charges are to revert to 1997 prices for the time being after a wave of protest from its users and councillors.

Charities using the hall have inundated Craven District Council with complaints that massively increased charges were crippling their fundraising efforts.

The authority had felt there was a need for the price hike in order to pay for £29,000-worth of essential repairs to the crumbling hall.

But a series of cancellations by bodies like the Sue Ryder Foundation sparked members of the council's finance and property committee to declare the new charges "a mistake".

Coun David Crawford proposed a six-month moratorium on any charge increases, pending the preparation of a report into the matter by an independent working party.

The working party is still discussing the future of the town hall, but on Wednesday Craven District Council's policy and resources committee approved a recommendation that fees stay at 1997/98 levels, with a 2.7 per cent increase to accommodate inflation.

Coun Crawford told the meeting: "I am glad that as a result of the moratorium I called people have seen sense and that the fees will stay at a reasonable level.

"The working party now has until September to come up with a long-term solution to the town hall problem but I don't believe it will achieve this in such a short time."

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