The leader of a district council has admitted it has had no contact with the owners of a derelict hospital since it closed a decade ago.

The Cottage Hospital in Thetford was owned by the NHS when it closed in 2006 and has since been sold to a private owner.

Town councillors have been leading a call to reopen the facility, but at a Breckland Council meeting last week William Nunn said the authority had not been in contact with the building's owners since its closure.

It has also been revealed that a resolution by the council leader in 2012 to write a letter to the owner about the state of the site on Earl Street, and to send an enforcement officer to the area, never came to fruition.

After being criticised for resorting to a public petition rather than letting the matter be dealt with by the council, Labour councillor Terry Jermy asked the council to outline what communication had taken place between officers and owners of the Cottage Hospital site.

After the meeting Mr Jermy said: 'I am genuinely surprised that in 10 years Breckland cannot point to any action on their part to bring the building into a better state. We rely on Breckland as the local authority – this is of huge local concern and they have done nothing.'

At the full council meeting it was also announced that the council will be undertaking a district wide review of derelict buildings.