The sum of an offer made by a national pub chain to purchase the De Valence Pavilion in Tenby has been revealed by town councillors this week.

During discussions at a previous meeting of Tenby Town Council, members requested that the De Valence building, located in Upper Frog Street, be valued, so that financial offers on the table could be considered properly should the council wish to sell the premises.

It was also revealed that recent negotiations between Pembrokeshire County Council and the town council on the future of the building had determined that 35 per cent of the gross capital receipt of any sale would go to the county council should the building be sold for any other use other than as a community facility or function centre.

At Tuesday night's meeting of the town council, one councillor asked for the bid that J. D. Wetherspoon were said to have tabled for the facility, to be brought into the public domain, to put an end to rumours.

"Someone at Haverfordwest's new J. D. Wetherspoon seemed to believe that Tenby Town Council had been offered £2 million for the De Valence. If we'd been offered that amount I'm sure we'd having been fighting to get to the bank," said Clr. Mrs. Trisha Putwain.

"I think it's time we were a bit more open about how much we've been offered," she added.

The town clerk said that, although the estate agents had not specified that the buyers had added any secrecy clause in any bid, the town council were not obliged to name the exact figure offered.

"It's fair to say then that we were offered in the region of half-a-million pounds for the De Valence," said Clr. Mrs. Julie Evans.

Meanwhile, the owners of local attraction Silent World Aquarium and Reptile Collection, who have also expressed an interest in leasing the De Valence building to create a state-of-the-art aquarium, are due to meet with the council to give a presentation to members at their next meeting.

Clr. Mrs. Evans felt that the county council's director of development, Dr. Steven Jones, should be informed that the presentation was taking place as he might be interested in coming along. She also wanted to remind the public that anyone was welcome to go along to town council meetings.

The town clerk told members that he had received a hire request from the organisers of the South Pembs Hunt to hold their annual ball at the De Valence in November.

Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown welcomed the booking as it was a very big community event.