A MULTIMILLION pound plan to transform a drab building has been scrapped after a cash-strapped council admitted defeat.

Major redevelopment plans for Abingdon’s Guildhall have fallen flat after estimates for the cost exceeded the budget by almost £1m.

Abingdon Town Council leader Mike Badcock confessed ‘the building has beaten us’ in a statement released yesterday, pulling plans to fit the 1960s Abbey Hall section with a cafe and screening room.

He insisted the £113,000 already spent on surveys and architects’ fees was not a waste of money - comparing it to cash someone might spend on dental consultation prior to potential treatment - and said he did not want to ‘inflict’ further expense on taxpayers.

The project was the latest failed attempt to revive the building, following the council’s previous plan to fit it with a commercial cinema, and there is now possibility that it may become housing.

Mr Badcock said: “The council worked very hard on finding a solution which is both sustainable and affordable, but reluctantly came to the conclusion that the building has beaten us.

“It is better for this difficult decision to have been taken now before substantial sums were committed to building works.”

He said the lowest tender that came back for project costs was £3.08m; well-surpassing the £2.1m the council initially budgeted for.

Mr Badcock said the business plan fell apart after projects emerged that would offer rival services, including a cafe at Abbey Meadow and a conference centre at Oxford Abingdon Hotel, which would detract custom.

He added: “Everything just seemed to conspire against us. The fabric of the building defeated us - the financial constraints were greater than we were prepared to inflict on the people of Abingdon. We are terribly disappointed.”

Abbey Hall and Guildhall in Abbey Close had been used for events and by community groups until the council closed them in August 2015, blaming hefty running costs.

Councillors have wrangled for years over the future of the building and gained planning permission in May to fit it with a glass-fronted cafe and bar and modernised function areas.

They will now liaise with other local authorities to find an ‘alternative community use’ for Abbey Hall. However Mr Badcock said if no viable alternative is found, it would be ‘acceptable’ for it to turn into ‘housing of some sort’.

A smaller budget will help to spruce up the historic Guildhall building and make it more disabled-friendly.