Ceredigion County Council is in breach of charity law due to its ‘financial mismanagement’ of New Quay Memorial Hall, it is being claimed.

Campaigners fighting to save the 94-year-old building from closure have raised over £26,000 since the cash-strapped local authority withdrew support last year amid talk of a potential repair bill exceeding £100,000.

The New Quay War Memorial Committee now say they are in the final stages of a £250,000 grant application with the Welsh Assembly Community Facilities Program and have been informally offered well over £120,000 donations to be paid on securing the building.

But John Barrett, treasurer of the committee who manage the hall - built by public subscription in memory of New Quay’s World War One dead – claims repeated requests to County Hall about the state of the building’s finances have been continually ignored.

He is now urging the council to consider transferring ownership to the hall committee.

A county council spokesperson said: “The council has provided full details of the charity accounts in an open and transparent manner, following which the Charitable Incorporated Organisation has now submitted various information requests which the council is currently working to respond to."

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