NORTH Somerset Council has spent more than �500,000 on furniture for its Town Hall revamp and is now offering a range of unwanted furniture to local organisations.

The refurbishment – which will see the council’s services divided between the hubs of the Town Hall in Weston and Castlewood in Clevedon – is currently in its final stages, with teams into their new workplace.

With the total cost of the Town Hall upgrade costing �9.7million, the authority has spent �515,000 on new furniture.

A council spokesman said: “Traditional office furniture doesn’t allow us to use the office space as efficiently as we’d like so we’ve invested in bench-style work desks. Working this way means we need less office space while increasing capacity.

“The Town Hall can now accommodate 950 people, 50 per cent more than before, giving the council and its partners the ability to expand our operations and retain jobs in Weston.”

The spokesman said the costs would be balanced by savings from property maintenance and energy costs, the sale of vacated premises and rent from private firms sharing space at the Town Hall and Castlewood.

Groups interested in the furniture, including cupboards, filing cabinets, fridges and desks, can email office.amalgamation@n-somerset.gov.uk putting ‘Office Furniture’ in the subject line, or call 01934 427474.