MONITORING equipment costing £500 is to be re-installed in the 'unstable' wall of Holy Trinity Church in Skipton - some years after fears were first raised of its eventual collapse.

Annual observation, at an additional cost of £400 to see if the wall is moving closer to the road, as feared, will also take place, Skipton town councillors have decided.

Further agreement was made to getting quotes for pointing of the wall, which borders the High Street, as recommended by surveyors most recently earlier this year.

The meeting of the public services committee heard that the issue with the wall, whether it was being compromised by trees, at what extent it was moving and whether the church, or the council, was responsible, had been discussed by the council for several years.

Members agreed that steps needed to be taken to protect the town council, which has accepted responsibility for maintenance of the church wall, against any potential claims if the wall was to collapse onto someone or onto the highway. It was also stated that time was running out to sort out the wall, which seven years ago was described by an engineer as in danger of collapse in 'five to ten years'.

Early in 2016, the then town council put aside an initial £25,000 towards what was thought at the time could be up to £300,000 to stop the wall from collapsing.

Monitoring equipment was installed and showed that the wall was gradually moving towards the road and leaving the pavement increasingly narrow.

An engineer at the time said there was no danger of it collapsing in the next five to ten years but that further monitoring was required and that the council should start making detailed plans for dealing with the situation.

Since then, an application to Craven District Council to remove five trees believed to have been responsible for damage to the wall was refused permission with the planning authority stating there was no evidence to suggest that was the case.

The latest correspondence by surveyors in July recommended that monitoring take place and maintenance, such as pointing, be undertaken every year or when needed. The letter to the town council referred to a recommendation that pointing be carried out in 2008 that had never happened, and that the monitoring equipment had been removed.

Councillor Peter Madeley urged his fellow committee members to not take any action before finding out exactly how the council stood if the wall was to collapse and at what stage if the wall was found to be moving that work would take place.

"We need to do the right thing, but we need to know what the right thing is, " he said.

But committee chair, Cllr Karen McIntyre pointed out that the council already had that information and needed to act.

And Cllr Claire Nash said it was important that the council made sure the wall was regularly inspected and necessary work carried out in order to protect itself against potential insurance claims.

"If substantial movement is identified, we will have to deal with," she said.