ONE of Herefordshire's most prestigious public buildings is the prize for two councils who are taking each other on in a "title" fight.

Herefordshire Council has included Hereford Town Hall in a planned sale of its sites and offices that pays for the multi-million pound move to a new HQ.

But Hereford City Council says selling the Town Hall would betray the bequest that meant it could it built. Councillors want the building that has been their base since the 1800s back - for free.

The Mayor of Hereford, Councillor Marcelle Lloyd-Hayes, told the Hereford Times that her reading of the Town Hall's title deeds strongly suggested that was what should happen.

Coun Lloyd-Hayes said the Town Hall was built for "the people of Hereford" as a symbol of civic pride on a site donated for just such a purpose.

"We have paid for it once, we should not have to pay for it again," she said.

Herefordshire Council chief executive Neil Pringle said his legal advice indicated that freehold for the site was not a deed of gift but an "expressed" conveyance - the validity of which had expired.

That gave Herefordshire Council the right to determine the Town Hall's future, he said.

The Town Hall - home to the former Hereford City Council - transferred to Herefordshire Council when the unitary authority was set up in 1998.

The current city council, effectively a parish authority, pays Herefordshire Council to use the building. The Mayor's offices and the city treasures are also maintained there.

City council leader councillor David Fleet said there was some concern among members about whether or not the council could afford to take over the Town Hall - let alone buy it.

But all agreed with the principle of the building belonging to the city - and the city deciding what should be done with it, he said.

Hereford City Council was homeless for many years after its original Tudor Town Hall was torn down in 1862.

A widening range of responsibilities meant that the council had to have a permanent base. The problem of finding the right site was solved by a remarkable and unexpected act of generosity.

In May 1900 the city council received a letter from the daughters of the late Richard Johnson, Town Clerk from 1832-1868.

They offered to donate to the city a row of three buildings on St Owen Street owned by the family, property valued at a then substantial £5,000.

The then council borrowed £25,000 to build its new Town Hall, but the final cost of acquisition, construction and furnishing came to just over £31,000.

Its successors would have to raise their council tax precept to buy the building.

Herefordshire Council has long been looking to cut back on the number of sites from which it operates, and wants to establish a new HQ at the former HP Bulmer offices in Plough Lane, Hereford.

The latest move puts almost every other council property - including its current Brockington base - on the market.

Hereford Town Clerk Martin Fellows said that talks between Herefordshire Council and Hereford City Council over the future for the Town Hall would resume early in the new year once a valuation report had been prepared.

"I am conscious of the city council's desire to acquire the building - on acceptable terms," he said.