WHILE the recently appointed new borough mayor has been rolling out a red carpet to welcome Thurrock folk to his new parlour, some of his colleagues have been less than impressed as the gloss is starting to wear off the controversial multi-million pound new building.

In one of the latest gaffes, three Tory councillors found themselves stuck in a lift for more than an hour – and couldn't let anyone know as the alarm didn't work! Released eventually after 70 minutes, they recalled they thought they might have to bed down in the lift for the night if no-one noticed they were missing. And there have been reports of other people, including officers, trapped in a similar fashion.

Steeped in dispute and disagreement since its inception several years ago – and voted down by a majority of councillors only for the ruling Conservative cabinet to overturn that decision, the new civic office extension is still proving problematic.

As exclusively reported on Thurrock Nub News, the design of the council chamber within the extension has turned out to be a completely botched job – and it is not yet known if it will be ready for the full council meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 29 June.

Opps - not enough space to conduct a full council meeting.

With its windows still blacked out – few know what is happening behind its locked doors.

While the council is attempting to keep a wall of secrecy about the building and the problems, stories continue to creep out. As well as the three councillors getting trapped, Cabinet member Shane Hebb was less than impressed as his chair came apart at a recent meeting – and switches, plug covers and other fittings are also breaking – almost at the first time of use.

One councillor told Nub News: "This is supposed to be a showcase building and no expense was supposed to have been spared to make it state of the art, but things are breaking, they already look shoddy and there's no wonder the responsible officers are keeping things under wraps, they must be worried about what will go wrong next.

"Contractors have been brought in to put things right and they have been overwhelmed by just how bad things are. It's all been shambolic and another embarrassment to the administration and the borough."

However, new Mayor Cllr James Halden, who promised a flamboyant year, is making the most of the facility – inviting community groups in and rolling out the red carpet for them.  

Members of the Methodist Church were among those who recently enjoyed Cllr Halden's hospitality.

Guests enjoy afternoon tea with the Mayor.