COUNCILS will have to resume face-to-face meetings this month after a legal challenge aimed at extending pandemic conditions failed. A High Court challenge brought by Hertfordshire County Council, Lawyers in Local Government and the Association of Democratic Services Officers had sought to allow online meetings to continue beyond May 7. But Dame Victoria Sharp and Mr Justice Chamberlain dismissed it, ruling that primary legislation was required. The move has been described as “a retrograde step” by BCP Council’s leader Councillor Drew Mellor. but he said arrangements, including the use of the BIC, were already in place to hold in-person meetings.