I am sorry to read that the leader of Vale of White Horse District Council believes the county council has engaged in a “sleight of hand” to imply that the decision to close the Wantage Register Office was taken by his council.

He is of course correct in saying that provision of the Registration Service is a county council responsibility, and decisions regarding that service are entirely ours.

However the decisions we have to take are often affected by the decisions made by others.

In this case there is no disputing the fact that the district council took the decision not to renew our lease on accommodation in the Civic Hall because it has other plans for the hall.

Consequently we had no choice but to decide to close the office.

We were then put in a position of having to look for a suitable alternative location in Wantage from which to offer the service at reasonable cost.

No such alternative has so far proved to be available.

There has been no sleight of hand. The closure of the Wantage Registration Office is a direct result of the District Council’s decision to evict us from the Civic Hall.

It is worth pointing out that, as a gesture of goodwill to our former landlords, we transferred our licence for the use of the Civic Hall for marriages and civil partnerships to the district council at no charge, allowing them to make an income from such ceremonies for the next year.

Cllr Mrs J Heathcoat, Cabinet Member for Safer and Stronger Communities, Oxfordshire County Council