A FORMER manor house should begin a new chapter today as the headquarters of a Dales town council.

Leyburn's Thornborough Hall has had a chequered history - first as a home and then as a magistrates' court, a meeting place, a register office and a Wensleydale base for Richmondshire District Council.

However, with contracts finally exchanged on Friday, it seems certain Leyburn Town Council will now take over as custodian.

There have been some tense moments in the closing stages of negotiations over the hall's destiny.

First, Yorkshire Forward had the town council on tenterhooks.

Without financial backing for the regional development agency, acquisition of the building would have been out of the question - and the town had heard nothing a week ago.

However, a grant of £150,000 has now been confirmed.

The district authority then had to arrange an emergency meeting to decide if the town council's proposals would need planning permission, which could also have put the buy-out in jeopardy.

A meeting called last Monday night subsequently decided a Certificate of Lawfulness was in order as the take-over did not involve a change of use.

However, Richmondshire District Council had also warned it would break off from any deal with the town council if contracts had not been exchanged by Friday evening.

The documents had still not changed hands by 4pm, although the deal did go through later that afternoon.

Leyburn Town Council clerk Julie Forrest confirmed the next step should be the formal completion of the deal, with confirmation of the cost and plans for the future to be unveiled after that.

"It has taken over a year, but this is great news for the town," she said. "The building has been neglected and may look in a sorry state but we have plans for refurbishment."

So far, a register office, a function room, a number of commercial units, town council offices and other rooms for English Nature, the health service and a housing association are among the options being considered.