HIT by a wave of complaints and cancellations, Craven District Council may postpone increased charges for the letting of Skipton Town Hall.

The many and varied charitable organisations in particular were furious when the authority decided to raise the cost of letting the hall for their fundraising events.

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

The council has already lost bookings valued at £15,000 through cancellations by groups who fear that, unless they find alternative venues, they could be forced to stop fundraising.

On Wednesday members agreed to Coun David Crawford's proposed six-month moratorium on any charge increases, pending a report into the matter by an independent working party.

Coun Crawford said the party should comprise three people, one of whom could be selected from the local chamber of trade.

An emergency meeting of the council has been called for March 31 to decide the matter.

Coun Crawford was backed up by Coun Claire Brooks, who said: "I am absolutely appalled by the attitude of some councillors in this matter.

"In my view what the council has proposed is a very wicked thing. We are always doing things to harm the public."

Some users, like the Skipton and Craven Lions Club, have said they would have to cancel fundraising fairs already booked, as their costs would rise by 150 per cent.

Should the proposed rises go ahead, from April 1 a five-hour session in the main hall would cost £87.50 for non-commercial concerns - up from £35 .

Brian Sparkes, treasurer of the Lions, said: "We are concerned because the proposed increase in charges is prohibitive. It could cause us to cancel many fairs and endanger the support that we are giving to the local community by reducing our charitable income substantially."

The finance and property committee agreed that the council should find other ways of raising the £100,000 needed to run the building per year.

The long standing objective of officers has been to recover at least 70 per cent of the operating costs of the hall through letting income.

Coun Marcia Turner said: "If we go ahead with these charges we are not letting the community have the benefit of its own town hall. My phone has been red hot since the news of the increases came out."

Coun Ken Luty, pre-empting the decision of the full council, said: "We are going to have to accept that CDC will have to continue subsidising the letting system."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.