Even the few meetings Swindon Borough Council thought it needed to run have been cancelled owing to the government’s lockdown.

The meeting of the Conservative cabinet called for tomorrow and then the checking and questioning those decisions by the scrutiny committee on Monday have been called off.

The only other meetings the council said would continue after last Friday were meetings of the planning and licensing committees, and a those of a special committee specifically set up to ratify decisions which need full council support in order to avoid gathering up to 56 councillors together.

Under the provisions of the Coronavirus Bill, currently going though Parliament, but expected to become law by the end of the week, the authority may be able to hold these meetings, which are needed under its constitution to make decisions legal by remote access.