Dartmouth would have to kiss goodbye to council 'quality' unless the town continues to shell out for its three monthly editions of the council produced newsletter called the Dartmouth Guardian.

The town council is currently designated as a 'Quality Council' indicating that it is a professionally run local authority with a qualified town clerk.

But one of the Government conditions of the qualification is that the town council produces a newsletter at least four times a year which goes to every household in the town – which currently costs taxpayers more than £1,300 to print and distribute each edition.

Now the council is looking at ways of slashing the cost of the giveaway newsletter – even if that means town councillors hiking around the town and delivering it themselves.

Some councillors were all for looking at axing the newsletter altogether.

Cll Paul Reach warned: 'The public perception is that we are producing a glossy publication at a cost which will produce a far more negative perception than losing our quality council status.'

Now the council has decided to set up a working party to look at ways of cutting the cost of producing the newsletter.

Until now the council has been shelling out more than £5,000 a year to produce its four annual Dartmouth Guardians containing news about the council and its achievements as well as events involving the town and local organisations.

Each newsletter costs more than £800 to print and publish and £500 to distribute.

Mayor Paul Allen said the newsletter had to go to every house in the town and pointed out that one way of saving on the £500 distribution costs charged by the Royal Mail was for each of the town councillors to take 200 copies. He said: 'You could push them through each letterbox yourselves.'

Totnes and Ivybridge have already both lost their quality status while Kingsbridge Town Council never qualified for the local authority kitemark.

Deputy town clerk Tracey Rowe highlighted the fact that with the Localism Bill it was possible that new powers could be handed to town councils – but this was only likely if they had Quality Council status.

Cll Francis Hawke pointed out that keeping the quality status was a 'benefit' for the council and suggested that it could still produce the newsletter but more cheaply. Suggestions that the newsletter could be sent out by email or on line were dismissed because Government rules say it had to be capable of reaching every household in the town.

Cllr Hawke said: 'Obviously some councils will benefit from the Big Society and I'm afraid others may not.'

Cllr Allen backed plans for a working group to look at the future of the newsletter.

He added: 'Totnes and Ivybridge have lost their quality status and that does not look too good when it comes to the public perception.'