More than 90 council buildings could be sold over the next four years to save the taxpayer in the region of £85m, according to Wiltshire Council.

Buildings to be put up for sale will include the former West Wiltshire District Council offices in Bradley Road, Trowbridge, the Melksham highway depot and Trowbridge Town Hall.

The council said it has 95 administrative offices and only a quarter of the desks at these are occupied at any one time.

The cabinet will be asked to approve a plan to reduce its buildings to four main hubs – Monkton Park in Chippenham, County Hall in Trowbridge, Browfort in Devizes and the new Bourne Hill development in Salisbury, by 2012.There are also plans to refurbish County Hall, which will include a new Trowbridge library, reference library and café.

The plan follows the collapse of the Modus scheme for the Waterside in Trowbridge, which was due to include a state-of-the-art library.

The council’s chief director, Carlton Brand, believes the move will save the council an estimated £85.1m over the next 25 years, including a maintenance backlog of more than £22m.

The council is planning to invest savings into IT, so its staff can work more flexibly and spend less time in council offices, in order to cut its carbon footprint – at present, council staff travel 5.5 million business miles a year.

Cllr Toby Sturgis, portfolio holder for property, told the Wiltshire Times: “We have too many buildings, many of which are in the wrong location and in disrepair and expensive to maintain.

“It makes sense to dispose of surplus properties and keep the ones that are sustainable and meet the needs of both customers and staff.

“This has involved us looking at options to better utilise space and provide more efficient ways of working.”

The cabinet will discuss the budget and timescales of the programme, which is expected to cost £22.9m, at County Hall on Tuesday.

Lib Dem councillor Trevor Carbin, the prospective MP for south west Wiltshire, believes the cabinet should take a cautious approach when selling its assets, and is sceptical of the savings proposed by the cabinet.

He said: “I think we need to look at this on a case by case basis – we need to make sure we keep hold of those buildings that are still vital and get best value for those we sell.

“I’m not happy about the cabinet’s plans to sell the old West Wiltshire District Council offices in Bradley Road because they have a valuable purpose.

“I’m also very suspicious about any figures coming out of County Hall at the moment – we need justification for the savings they are proposing.”

l Affordable homes bid – page 12.