Arun Civic Centre given all-clear after asbestos scare

CONCERNS over asbestos in the council chamber and meeting rooms at Arun Civic Centre, Littlehampton, have been dispelled after laboratory tests cleared a suspicious substance.

The material was discovered during building work in the second floor civic suite on Tuesday morning (March 19) and let to the postponement of a crucial meeting on Wednesday night, when the final decision was to have been taken on Arun District Council’s draft leisure strategy.

Initial laboratory testing of the substance, found while work was being carried out to improve the sound system in the chamber and committee rooms, proved inconclusive, and resulted in the full council meeting on Wednesday being called off.

It was feared the material could have been asbestos, due to the age of the Civic Centre, but a second sample sent to the independent laboratory for analysis has now been found to be safe.