Debate still rages over the circumstances leading to the decision to close Helston's Meneage Street to traffic for three weeks.

In each statement put out by the council, social distancing for the health and safety of shoppers and traders was highlighted as the reason for the closure, which ended last Friday.

However, town councillor Ron Edgcumbe continues to maintain that he only voted in favour of the closure due to a belief that Cornwall Council insisted it take place, after he read this in a Helston Packet report.

Mike Thomas, who is both a town and Cornwall councillor, remains adamant though that it had always been up to the town to decide on how to act on advice from county officers - and that this had been clear at each of the meetings members had held before the vote was taken.

The issue was raised again at Thursday's full town council meeting, after councillor Miles Kenchington spoke about a "derogatory" headline on another local news website, which stated the council had performed a "U-turn" over the road closure - something he felt was incorrect, although the report itself was accurate.

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This prompted Mr Edgcumbe to raise the issue of how the decision was taken, saying: "We need to talk properly about what went wrong with this road closure.

"I think the major problem was when we had the meeting I believed this was being enforced on us by Cornwall Council. I don't know where it came from. It was released in the Helston Packet, that's where I got it from. I was misinformed really, I think.

"I think Cornwall Council should be clear on their connection with Helston council; I think we need to understand how that press release got released to the Helston Packet."

However, Mike Thomas said the town council had two Cornwall councillors sitting on it - John Martin and himself - and he "would expect those people to have some knowledge about what is going on."

He added: "I can remember at the meeting recommending we start this that I made it quite clear that this was a decision we made, as a town council."

Councillor John Boase said early on in the process he had also been confused, but "quickly realised it was not enforced on us and we were doing this as something we believed should be done."

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He added that he had seen "emails flying around" including one sent to the mayor "where he had his wrist slapped because Helston Town Council had not got a move on and said what they wanted from Cornwall Council."

"When that sort of thing is happening people can very easily misinterpret and think, 'They want us to do it, we have to do it'."

Mr Edgcumbe's proposal that a formal council meeting be held in public, to discuss how the decision was arrived at and "all this misinformation," failed to win support from the rest of the council, apart from new councillor Brendan Thomas who seconded the motion due to his belief that "we should have been more open about how the decision was made," although he agreed with the closure entirely.

He pressed mayor John Martin, asking: "Were we forced to do it?"

Mr Martin replied: "We were encouraged to do it earlier than we expected and for longer."

He said this was why the town could not do the gradual introduction of Thursday, Friday and Saturday closure that it initially wanted.

"However, Cornwall Council said no, that is not possible because of the dangers of the two-metre guidelines being abused," he added.

Mr Kenchington said his comment had "nothing whatsoever to do with reviewing the process", adding: "I would hope that the member of the press we have here will be able to ensure that it is clearly put, as I know the detail put in the Packet group all the way through has been accurate."