Town council meetings in Dorchester are to continue face to face – even though Dorset Council has now dropped the idea and is reverting back to online.

Two Dorset Council area planning meetings this week, due to be held in Sturminster Newton and Wimborne, will now be held virtually.

The Dorset Council change of heart came after a meeting of the Dorset Council corporate parenting board, due to be held in the former Dorset County Council chamber last week, was pulled with just hours to go – officially because there had been "a number of apologies."

Councillor Stella Jones told town councillors that two people who failed to see the message turned up at the council chamber to find nobody there.

Dorchester town councillors were told at their 'in person' meeting on Monday evening that the reason behind some of the apologies for the corporate parenting meeting was that a number of people had decided the gathering, at a time of increasing Covid infections across the country, was potentially risky. It was said some did not want to gamble their summer holiday plans by being 'pinged' by the NHS app.

Dorset Council has said is that there were a number of apologies and did not know the reasons behind them.

Despite hearing of the unitary council's change of mind about meetings town councillors backed continuing to hold its meetings face to face.

Town clerk Adrian Stuart told town councillors that he was confident that the switch from the town council chamber to the Dorchester cricket club pavilion complied with all the health and hygiene recommendations and was safe. He offered anyone who was unsure about the meetings to contact him in confidence if they were unhappy.

The only concession was that the normal convention of standing when speaking has been dropped and councillors and visitors are asked to wear a mask when moving about the room. Everyone attending is also asked to sign in and use hand steriliser.

Cllr Richard Biggs, who sits on both councils, said he found it 'unbelievable' that Dorset Council had changed its mind about its meeting. He said the last full Dorset Council meeting was an example of the difficulties of online meetings with people using the internet whilst attending and bad-tempered exchanges between some councillors.