THE majority of Minehead Football Club's home ground buildings could be sealed off if fears over their safety are confirmed.

The town council, which owns the Irnham Road complex, is expected to appoint consultants to carry out a feasibility study into its future by early August.

And it is likely that the dilapidated, problem-prone buildings could be demolished to make way for a multi-purpose new community building after it was discovered that even basic repairs and refurbishment would cost around £75,000.

In the meantime councillors are faced with the dilemma of what to do with the buildings as their condition deteriorates.

Just a few weeks ago water flooded through the roof into the bar area, causing damage that will take thousands of pounds to repair.

The town's mayor Cllr Simon Stokes told a meeting of the council's amenities and general purposes committee on Monday that he now felt uncomfortable allowing the public to use the buildings.

He suggested they should be closed immediately and a temporary portable building brought onto the ground to provide the facilities the football club needs to remain in the Western League, to which it has just pledged its commitment.

But Cllr Mandy Chilcott said it would not be that simple to close the buildings because the club needed access to them to use the high voltage floodlights.

She said a structural survey carried out within the last few months had not declared the buildings unsafe or condemned them.

"Perhaps we need some clarification but I have not seen anything in black and white that says they are unsafe and not fit to go in," she said.

Cllr Chilcott said councillors knew the buildings would be problematic and this was now coming home to roost.

But Cllr Norman Hercock said it was two years since he had been in the buildings and their condition was worrying enough then.

"It's only got worse," he said. "I don't feel very easy about their condition."

And Cllr Doug Ross said that if the council was aware of problems but continued to let the building be used it could find its insurance invalid should any member of the public be injured.

Committee chairman Cllr Jenny Lennon-Wood said she was profoundly unhappy at the direction of the debate.

She had earlier asked councillors to consider an offer made by club spokesman Brian Walder that it would pick up the tab for the Council Tax, electricity bills and water rates for the next 12 months in return for a rent-free tenure.

She said she wanted to hold immediate discussions with Mr Walder to find a way forward.

"To say the buildings are unsafe is to take an extreme view," she said. "The buildings are not so unsafe that we have to close them now.

"We are being offered a compromise by the football club.

"If we close the buildings, we will still have to pay rates, the football club would not be able to use them and we would have to provide a temporary building."

However, councillors eventually agreed that it would recommend to the full council that all unsafe areas should be sealed off after discussing with the football club its requirements.

If these could not be met, the provision of a temporary building would be investigated.

The football club will also be told that it can undertake pitch repairs, with the approval of town clerk Sue Sanders and at no cost to the council.

The structural survey into the condition of the building highlighted a series of serious problems, including the presence of asbestos, which would require specialist treatment.

The buildings have little heating or roof insulation, while many of the windows need restoring.

Other potential problems not covered by the survey but which have been raised as possible concerns include the electrics, drainage, fire safety and levels of radon gas.