Town Hall fire alarm costs spiral to nearly £40,000

Despite already spending over £35,000 replacing the Town Hall’s fire alarm system Welshpool Town Council is facing additional costs of over £4,000.

Volunteers kept the Town Hall open by acting as wardens after a temporary closure in August when it was discovered that the system had been faulty for some time.

The council spent £34,546 with Universal Fire replacing the system but has now been told that it now needs to find an additional £4,237.

The additional costs include £510 for linking the alarm system to a central station, £1,944 to install detectors and sounders in the basement boiler and escape route areas and £1,783 to install detectors, including a radio booster, in the beer cellar as well as the lift area and café.

The report from Universal Fire said the café and lift areas had never had any smoke detectors fitted and identified them as “risk areas”.

Councillors on Wednesday decided the work was essential with total costs spiralling to nearly £40,000.