THE Guildhall in Chard is gearing up for a facelift to keep the town’s landmark building looking resplendent.

Works expected to top £20,000 will begin in earnest after scaffolding began to go up around the town hall last week.

The improvements were identified by an independent inspector in the so-called Quinquennial Report.

Operations manger Ed Ringwood, from the council, explained why the works needed to take place.

He said: “The report was the result of a specialist surveyor inspecting the Guildhall inside and out. We got a condition report and he identified certain works that needed to be done, some of this work is on the outside on the clock tower. What happened then is we looked through all the remedial actions could do, but we needed to appoint an outside company to do the scaffolding and outside work.

“We have certain restrictions in what we can do in terms of the Guildhall being a listed building so the repairs and the paintwork etc will have to be pretty much the same as when it was originally done, so it is giving the hall a bit of a facelift.”

The town council approved the estimated £19,931.24 in February, plus a £1,500 project management fee, as recommended by the council’s Guildhall and Amenities Committee.

The Grade II listed building underwent major renovations in 1998 finishing in 2003 when it reopened, thanks to some financial assistance from the Heritage Lottery Fund.