FLAK is flying again over the running of Llantilio Pertholey’s troubled village hall.

Owners and managers of the hall in Mardy have been locked in a dispute over a new lease for two months.

The issue has since been resolved with both sides agreeing to sign a new document - but the fallout over the bust-up continues to rage.

Hall owners have said they are pursuing legal action against the managers, dismissing them as squatters who are holding their masters to ransom.

In turn, miffed members of the hall management committee are calling in the Ombudsman after claiming ‘irresponsible and probable illegal action’ on the part of the hall-owning community council under the chairmanship of Geoff Cowan.

The spat revolves around the management committee’s desire to retrieve its books - including a cheque book, accounts and bank credit book - which they claim Mr Cowan has ‘repeatedly refused’ to hand over.

Mr Cowan and vice-chairman Councillor Norma Watkins agreed to hold the hall accounts while the management committee sought a replacement accountant - a search which proved successful.

Hall managers insist Mr Cowan promised to hand them back once the lease row was settled - but they are still not forthcoming.

Other grumbles aired by the management committee relate to invoicing procedures and possession of hall keys by Mr Cowan which should be held by a duty committee member. This, they argue, has meant the hall has been left without emergency 24-hour cover.

Marion Tucker, the hall management committee chairman and her vice-chairman Phil Jones, have fired off a robustly worded denouncement of the current situation to Neil Chambers, the community council’s clerk.

They complain, “Surely the community council cannot condone the unauthorised action of one of its members in holding these keys as well as other items.”

They say such an impasse will make it ‘extremely difficult’ for the managers to find a satisfactory reason ‘in explaining the present situation to both the Charity Commission and the village hall’s insurers.’

The authors of the letter also highlight the loss of the hall’s emergency lighting log book which throws up health and safety concerns and exposes the management committee to possible legal action.

They allege that such actions amount to breaches in a members’ code of conduct.

And they warn, “We wish to inform community council members that the hall management committee, as a corporate body and charity, will be reporting all of these concerns to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales.”

They add that the same matters are also being pursued ‘by way of judicial process via the committee’s solicitor.’

A defiant Mr Cowan is standing his ground, arguing there is no hall management committee because the lease agreement ran out in 2014.

He maintains the committee members are ‘squatters holding the council to ransom,’ a suggestion refuted by the managers who argue that under the terms of the Landlords and Tenants Act of 1954 the agreement holds until it is replaced by the newly agreed deal.

Phil Jones said the squatters slur was ‘disgusting.’

Mr Cowan, in response to the committee’s letter to the clerk, said, “The council has instructed legal action to be taken to return the building back to the council. Notice will be given to them by a legal advisor.”

Mr Jones said he knew nothing about any legal action.

Mr Cowan said he had been left to be the duty man after a resignation. He had done the job since September 1 and would continue in the post this month.

He said the hall committee had been undertaking the task previously on a monthly rota at a cost of £150 to the hall’s trust and trustees.

Managers say this was in order - and the Charity Commission was aware of the arrangement.

Mr Cowan also revealed he’d had the log book checked by the installers of the system. It was fully up to date, and the checks method was ‘up to standard.’

Both sides are also at odds over rent, with managers insisting payments are up to date.