Sandbach Town Council has featured on a BBC Radio 4 program hosted by comedian David Mitchell on the topic of meetings.

'Mitchell on Meetings' was first broadcasted yesterday (20 March) morning and starts with the comic asking listeners to imagine they are at Sandbach's Party in the Park with Foden's Brass Band playing in the background.

Mr Mitchell said: "So you buy an ice cream, listen to the music, visit some stalls and think, 'what a lovely day to be in Sandbach, where they happen to have such a pleasant annual event'.

"But they don't happen to have it, of course, things like this never just happen without a meeting, or 12."

The town council's events sub-committee acts as a case study for the program, which examines the culture of meetings across society and how that has been changed and disrupted by the pandemic, and Zoom in particular.

"Your ears may have pricked up when you heard the words 'town council' and 'Cheshire'," Mr Mitchell said, referencing the infamous Handforth Parish Council meeting featuring Jackie Weaver.

In comparison, the comedian described our town council's events sub-committee as a "different kind of meeting, filled with purpose and good sense".

Cllr Flavell praised Cllr Merry for her ability to chair meetings, saying "she really knows her stuff".

Cllr Merry told the host: "The Zoom-type meetings, we are getting much more interest from people who can, as it were, sit at home and browse the meeting."

Mr Mitchell described the idea of Zoom meetings as "nightmarish", containing the worst part of the process, the meeting itself, without the socialising with tea and biscuits.

If you would like to listen to the full program, you can find it on the BBC Sounds website.