COUNCILLORS in Berkeley have deferred a decision on whether to sell historic maces worth £750,000 to boost funds.

The two centuries-old decorative pieces, belonging to Berkeley Town Council, had been kept in a vault at the NatWest branch for 40 years.

But after the bank closed last July, they were handed back to the council and new expert valuations were sought.

They had previously been valued at £12,000 and £15,000 but fresh analysis led to an estimate of £500,000 for the 15th century item and £250,000 for the larger 17th century mace.

For the council to insure the maces and keep them at the town hall it would require the installation of a safe room and specialist alarm system.

The maces were on the agenda at the council's first meeting since the elections at the beginning of the month.

Newly-elected vice chairman Cllr Keith Palmer suggested selling them to fund new projects in the town for the benefit of the current and future generations.

“We’ve got an opportunity to turn these maces into liquid funds,” he said. “With this we could give people today something.

“Berkeley is a dying place and this much money would allow us to do a lot for the town.”

But councillors Liz Ashton and Fraser Brown both said that they didn’t feel that the decision could be made by the council.

Cllr Brown said: “I don’t think that we have the authority to sell them off.

“I suggest that we loan them to the castle for one or two years until we decide what to do with them.”

Cllr Ashton agreed and said the council had a responsibility to care for the maces as custodians of the town's history.

“I don’t think we do enough for the history of this place and this would provide us an opportunity to do more,” she said.

Following lengthy debate, members decided to loan the maces to Berkeley Castle for a year, at a cost of £500 for the council, while they decide what to do with them.

Berkeley Castle had previously been the home of the maces after being given them in 1938 for safe keeping.

After Berkeley was once again designated a town in the 1970s, councillors decided to relocate the maces from the castle.

Since then they had been stored at NatWest, until the branch in Canonbury Street closed last summer.