Buying a building in Tenby as an investment has been put on the back burner by Pembrokeshire County Council.

There had been a proposal to purchase 6 Tudor Square - listed at £950,000 - with its rental investment potentially worth an initial £48,000 a year.

The ground floor of the town centre building is currently occupied by the clothing store Peacocks, with a 13-year lease.

Discussion of the proposal was due for discussion at cabinet on Monday (November 5) in private session but it was withdrawn from the agenda.

Cabinet member for finance Cllr Bob Kilmister said that the proposal had created a lot of interest and he explained that the council had other investment properties bought using proceeds from the sales of other buildings.

There is currently £1.5million available for investments which cannot be used to fund services.

"It is capital receipts and cannot be used for the running of services, it's for investment in infrastructure or to create revenue," said Cllr Kilmister.

The recent sales made to allow the expansion of companies has resulted in a loss of revenue which would be spent on services, he added.

The £1.5million deposit generates 0.5 per cent interest while investment in the building could increase the return to 5.8 per cent.

"That's a huge level of difference, all that money would have been available to invest in services," said Cllr Kilmister.

Purchase of the building had been recommended by the strategic asset management group but following further "due diligence" it was found that the council was "not in a position to continue with this item."

Cllr Kilmister said it may come back to the table but further work was needed.

He made clear that the decision was not "backing down because of negative comment" and the search for more investment opportunities would continue to "reduce the pressure on council tax."

"We will protect our services by investing in a satisfactory manner," he added.