Town seeks to divorce its 'apathetic' French twin

An Oxfordshire market town wants to break the link with its twin town amid claims that its partner in eastern France has lost interest.

When Wallingford and Luxeuil-les-Nains became twin towns 30 years ago, they hoped to form a trans-European bond and share each other's cultures.

Now, Alec Hayton, the mayor of Wallingford, has sought to end the relationship after repeated attempts to contact civic leaders across the Channel fell on deaf ears.



But the Brussels-based Council for European Municipalities and Regions, which co-ordinates the schemes in Europe, has told him it does not have the authority to "de-twin" towns.

Mr Hayton said: "They were not interested in sorting out the problem. They said they did not have the forms and it was not their job to de-twin towns. They did not think anyone had asked that before."

Wallingford is a picturesque town on the River Thames, with a population of about 10,000 people. Luxeuil-les-Bains was established as a thermal town by the Romans and still has an 18th Century spa. It has a population of about 8,000 people and is near the Swiss border. The mayor of Luxeuil-les-Bains, Michel Raison, was unavailable for comment.