THE FOREST of Dean District Council have pulled out of a massive multi-million pounds investment in a retail park in Worcestershire, blaming an increase in Government lending rates to local authorities.

The withdrawl, announced last night, comes after a series of secret meetings of the full council which lead to a war of words between the Conservative Party group and the cabinet.

In a statement, a council spokesman said that, after due diligence, the authority were terminating their interest in the scheme.

It is a blow to the council’s plans of big investments for equal returns in order to raise money they need to set a new Budget for the year from February.

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