A £1,000 grant was allocated to the £2m regeneration of Bradford on Avon’s Holy Trinity Church but not without a lengthy and heated exchange at Wednesday’s area board meeting.

Wiltshire West District Scout Association had applied for £7,000 to go towards the cost of restoring pathways around the church to allow disabled access, repairing steps into the churchyard and the stabilisation of collapsing land.

The refurbished church hall will provide a disabled-friendly community space for up to 200 people for a range of cultural, heritage and educational events, available seven days a week.

However the town’s area board has an annual kitty of £5,000 for disabled access projects and was reluctant at first to grant any money at all, much to the dismay of councillors and residents.

Mayor Alison Craddock said: “I think it is amazing that they were not keen to get on board with this and their refusal to not meet the amount they asked for was disappointing.

“This church is a very important part of the town. They have made a huge effort to get this very large and grand project off the ground and it is now nearing completion.

“It could be a huge success and a real asset to the community every day of the week.”

A resident, who asked not to be named and was present at the meeting, said: “I cannot believe you are even considering not giving £7,000 towards this – that is a joke.

“All they are asking for is a very small amount to contribute to a great project. This is the only project on the table and it is very worthwhile.

“The good this will do for tourism and access is of vital importance and you are deliberately choosing to neglect that.”

After the meeting Cllr Magnus Macdonald, who bore the brunt of the criticism for his stance of wanting to grant £1,000, said: “I was being held up as a cat murderer.

"We have a limited amount of funds in this area and there are other very important projects that involve the whole town such as making the place more disabled friendly.

“It is only May and there are other projects in the pipeline that need funding too. We cover nine other parishes. I think that is the responsible thing to do.

"This project will not stop because we are not giving them the full amount.”