Merton Hall's demolition is against pre-election sensitivity rules, claim the Conservatives today (March 20).

Hoardings have recently been put up outside the hall - which was donated to the community by famous philanthropist John Innes in 1899 - despite it recently gaining the status of 'Asset of Community Value'.

This means residents have the right to raise money to buy the building for the community, with six weeks to set out a plan to raise the funds.

Now Merton Conservatives have said the demolition goes against pre-election purdah rules for sensitivity.

According to the Local Government Association guidelines for 2018, something could be against purdah if a reasonable person could "conclude that you were spending public money to influence the outcome of the election".

In an open letter, titled 'Urgent request to halt building works at Merton Hall', Cllr Oonagh Moulton and MP Stephen Hammond from Merton Conservatives, said:

"Further to the correspondence that you have received us both, Conservative colleagues and members of the Friends of Merton Hall community group, we are writing to formally request that all further building works at Merton Hall are put on hold until after the Merton Council election on Thursday 3 May 2018.

"As you are aware, Tuesday 20 March is the start of the official pre-election purdah period and the proposals around Merton Hall have become a topic of significant interest in the campaign. Whilst the current administration pursues a policy of demolition and hand over of the land to Elim Pentecostal Church, the Merton Conservative Group has adopted a policy which is opposed to any demolition or hand over.

"To persist with the works at Merton Hall would be to pre-empt the election result and would contravene the restrictions on local authorities during the immediate run-up to an election by effectively implementing a highly contentious policy during the purdah period.

"If you feel that works should persist during purdah, we shall not hesitate to engage the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

"We look forward to a reply at your earliest convenience. Given the public interest in this matter we will publish this letter and your response."

The controversy around Merton Hall reached a peak with allegations that Elim Church, who are due to receive it as part of a 'freehold swap' are homophobic.

Elim Church said: ""We do not seek to exclude any one group from our activities at Merton Hall. On the contrary, as we have already stated, the church aims to be welcoming and loving to all people regardless of age, gender, or sexual and religious orientation.

"While we were happy in our previous premises, having only purchased and renovated them for our purposes in the last 11 years, we agreed to move to Merton Hall at the request of the Council to help make room for a vital secondary school in the area.

"We do not seek to exclude any one group from our activities at Merton Hall. On the contrary, as we have already stated, the church aims to be welcoming and loving to all people regardless of age, gender, or sexual and religious orientation."

As part of the swap, The Council intends to build a school at Elim's current site on High Path, near the A24 and South Wimbledon station, but there is no guarantee Labour will win the election on May 3.

Stephen Alambritis, leader of Merton Council, said: "The last thing we want is for schoolchildren to be in temporary classrooms or porta-cabins in 2020 and any further delay will mean this.

"We already had a judicial review to the High Court, which was in Merton Council's favour, and a failed application for lisiting with Historic England."

He added that the council has already provided 5000 primary school places by extending existing buildings.