Meetings of Swindon Borough Council and its committees might go back to being held in person rather than online as soon as next Friday.

The law passed last year by the government allowing council meetings to be held solely online expired on Friday.

A High Court action by Hertfordshire County Council, supported by the Local Government Association, argued virtual meetings should still be legal – but failed last week.

Although the government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was "supportive in principle" of the proposed claim, arguing it could be met by the court giving its opinion on what "meeting", "place" and "present" mean in the existing law, the High Court judges said the 1972 law was clear and meant meetings in person.

The judgement said changing that would need a new law to be passed by the government.

Swindon council is still considering its position – but its next scheduled date is the full meeting where the leader, mayor and deputy mayor will be decided on May 21.

The calendar still shows that to be a virtual meeting – but that may change in the next week.

Cabinet member for organisational excellence Robert Jandy has previously said he would like to continue to allow people to access meetings online, even if they are held in person, as more people have watched during 2020 and 2021 than ever before.