UPTON’S Memorial Hall has been presented as a possible solution over where to house the town’s library and tourist information centre in the long term.

The TIC in High Street is set to move into the heritage centre at the Old Churchyard this autumn after a decision taken by Malvern Hills District Council last month.

Meanwhile the future of the library remains uncertain with Worcestershire County Council reviewing its provision as it seeks to cut £1.8 million – about 28 per cent – from its libraries and learning services budget.

Speaking at a meeting of Upton Town Council, Councillor Simon Speers said he had “floated” the possibility of incorporating the library and TIC, and even other services such as the police station, into Memorial Hall.

The building in Old Street is owned by the town council and is used for council and public meetings as well as being rented out for shows, classes and private events.

“The hall is the single biggest drain on our resources so could we perhaps look at making it a more useable building?”

he asked, adding that he thought it would be possible to extend it to the rear.

However other councillors expressed reservations, with George Wilson saying: “Mixing police services with other services can, from my experience, be very difficult.”

And Mike Morgan, one of Upton’s MHDC representatives, said: “One of the major stumbling blocks when the current library was extended to incorporate the police was that they required their own separate entrance.”

Meanwhile Eric White said he could remember the hall being used as a library in the past.

“When I was a young boy there were four grey cabinets downstairs and that was the library,” he said. “If you wait long enough then it all goes full circle.”