A WAR of words erupted at Liphook Parish Council this week when councillors were heavily criticised for assuming control of the village's controversial Millennium Hall.

One local resident told councillors they needed "their heads banging together", while a hall trustee described the current situation as "petty" and "pathetic".

At one point the meeting threatened to descend into chaos as trustees, parish councillors and members of the public all tried to talk over one another.

Earlier this month councillors took the decision to assume administrative control of the hall, setting up a new management committee and renaming it the Millennium Centre.

The announcement came as a shock to the hall's trustees who have been running the hall since it opened in 1999. On Monday night in the Peak Centre, they came looking for answers.

Repeatedly councillors were asked to explain why they had made the decision and how it would be beneficial to the community.

"How are you going to make better money than the hall does now?" asked trustee Dr Richard Hardwick.

New parish council chairman Alan Jordan said that it was not a matter of making more money.

"There was difficulty from the trustees, who couldn't make the payments," he said. "We don't have to make more money to make the payments."

Liphook In Bloom organiser Terry Burns was concerned that parishioners would now have to foot the bill.

Anna James said that so far £132,000 of parish council money had been paid to the hall, and that they had also paid £2,000 for the next year's insurance.

"Liphook people have already paid money," she said. "There should be no reason for any extra money to go into the Millennium Hall."

"The hall is a terrific asset for the village," said Mr Burns. "But I'm concerned you will lose the good will of people who put themselves out to make it into that asset."

Mrs James said that those who wished to continue their good will would be invited to do so.

Dr Hardwick said that he couldn't understand the difficulties that had developed between the trustees and the parish council.

"One of the problems is dealing with the issue under duress," said Mrs James. "Legal action was threatened against the staff and parish councillors while the issue was being discussed."

Dr Hardwick said that that threat was from someone acting as a private individual, not as chairman of the trustees.

Mr Burns said: "A number of people need to get their heads banged together. If only people could have got themselves organised instead of all this bickering."

David Wynn, a founding trustee said: "It's no secret that some councillors were elected on an anti-Millennium Hall platform. They thought it was a white elephant and that it would cost the village money."

After three years the committee had "manifestly and demonstrably proved these fears to be unfounded", he claimed. "We are very proud of what we have achieved, but we are all hurting considerably," he said. "If it ain't broke, why fix it?"

This week large advertisements appeared in the Haslemere Herald and another paper, placed by the directors and trustees of the hall.

It outlines the achievements of the last three years with trustees calling it "a great success story."

The trustees say they have "decided to co-operate" with the council who now take on running the hall despite their "grave concerns" that such a move would increase council taxes in Liphook.

"We view this as a full stop," said chairman of the trustees Frank Conroy. "We are now prepared to give it our best shot."

He said the advertisements had been paid for out of the trustees' own pockets.