Herefordshire Council is pressing on with plans for a multi-million pound new HQ at the former HP Bulmer offices in Plough Lane, Hereford.

But members opposed to the move say they will make it an election issue when the county goes to the polls in about 18 months time.

The council's cabinet re-affirmed its preference for Plough Lane at a secret session meeting last Thursday.

Earlier this month, the strategic monitoring committee had sent the plan back for cabinet to re-consider having criticised its "lack of detail".

After the meeting, the council's leader, Councillor Roger Phillips, told the Hereford Times that the Plough Lane move - the council's biggest capital project yet - was still on.

Any further comment could compromise purchase negotiations with site owners Scottish Courage, said Coun Phillips. That was why cabinet had kept its debate behind closed doors.

Opposition leader Councillor Terry James, who chaired the committee that sent the plan back, said he, and many other members, accepted the need for a new HQ but were not convinced by the case for Plough Lane.

"Access alone makes it the wrong site," said Coun James.

Opposition members prefer a purpose-built base on the Edgar Street grid that the council could share with the police and other agencies.

"There are council elections in about 18 months time and we will make the new HQ an issue. People have to decide whether or not they want the grid taken up by another supermarket," said Coun James.

Herefordshire Council has long been looking to cut back on the number of sites from which it operates, in favour of a single base with satellite offices in the market towns and some villages.

The move would put almost every other council property - including Hereford Town Hall and the council's Brockington base - on the market.