EXTRA staff may need to be hired when the Teignmouth town clerk retires and the council takes on more responsibilities from Teignbridge.

The news was given during a heated and often confusing council debate that lasted more than an hour on Tuesday about whether a prominent local charity could be based at Bitton House.

Volunteering in Health is currently housed 'in a broom cupboard', and needs more space.

The mayor, Cllr David Cox, suggested they be given a surplus room at the council headquarters, and although colleagues sympathised, some stressed that space was already limited at the historic building.

And it was also revealed that the clerk, Dave Tickell, 71, could be retiring, but he later told the Post negotiations over his future were still continuing.

Cllr Sylvia Russell, chairman of the finance and general purposes committee, said: 'We are desperate for space ourselves here. If we have to change our administrative arrangements, it could mean we need extra staff.'

She emphasised that the council would have to charge the market rate for any room to help with the high maintenance costs of the building.

'We spent thousands on this building, and any tenant would have to pay a proper rent – they could probably recover it from grant aid. We already hold a lot of public meetings and events here.'

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