HOPES are high a bitter row over a town hall’s treasures could finally be settled.

The dispute over the contents of Durham Town Hall broke out after Durham City Council was abolished in April 2009, with Durham’s Charter Trustees, then Liberal Democrat-controlled, trying to wrest control from Labour-led Durham County Council.

In 2001, the council decided it wanted to keep for itself all items except those of ceremonial and historic value.

Four years on, and with the Trustees now Labour-controlled, a deal has finally been reached and on Wednesday (July 15) the council’s cabinet gave the go-ahead for it to be signed.

The deal commits both the Trustees and the council to keeping their property in the Town Hall. Neither will be allowed to remove anything permanently without the agreement of the other.

Don McLure, the council’s corporate director of resources – who will finalise the agreement, said: “It may have taken some time but there was a common desire to keep the assets in the Town Hall.”

Deputy leader Alan Napier said he was delighted an amicable agreement had been reached.

The treasures, some of which have been part of Durham’s heritage for 400 years, include dozens of paintings, coats of arms, robes and items linked to Joseph Boruwlaski, a 19th century Polish dwarf known as the Little Count.