Elstree Studios has "wall-to-wall" clients and belongs to Hertfordshire residents, a long-serving director has said.

The troubled film studios where production for the first Star Wars was based faces a multimillion pound repair bill as ageing infrastructure begins to crumble.

But Elstree councillor Morris Bright, leader of Hertsmere Borough Council between 2007 and 2023, has said the studios remain the "ideal place to make high-end television".

The Conservative councillor has sat on the Elstree Film Studios' board of directors for the past 16 years.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "There are certain things you can put a price on.

"You know how much tenants are going to pay.

"You know how much income is coming from the studios.

"You know how much council tax is subsidising.

"You know what it does for the high street and you know how many jobs that's going to bring into the industry and to the area.

"What you don't know and can't quantify is the amount of pride it brings to the residents of Hertsmere.

"Some of the biggest films there over the years – the first three Star Wars, the first three Indiana Jones films, the first major talking picture with [Alfred] Hitchcock's Blackmail in 1929 – you cannot put a price on the way people feel when they drive past the studios or see something on television."

Cllr Bright's party lost control of the council at the May 2023 local elections.

The new Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition cabinet will debate a report on Wednesday, July 12 which sets out repairs at Elstree could cost a minimum £150million.

Hertsmere Borough Council owns the Elstree Film Studios company and the site, as a landlord.

In the past year, asbestos was discovered at stages 7, 8 and 9, and during remediation work, workers found some of the aerated concrete beams holding up the roofs had "snapped in places" and are now "dangerous".

Cllr Bright, a film historian and author by trade, said the report had caused concern in the industry and he feared future negotiators now "know what the numbers are"

He said: "I don't have an issue with stuff coming out into the public arena.

"I think it's a very good discussion to have and some of the issues which Elstree Studios has are the same issues which other studios have had.

"Being owned by the council, whilst we are quite rightly scrutinised to a different level being in public ownership, we do have a responsibility first and foremost to ensure the company and the studios are able to move forward and thrive.

"We can't necessarily do that if the gaze is on every decision being taken."

Cllr Bright added: "With some further investment in the site, on a high street and very close to London, it's the ideal place to make high-end television and high-end entertainment.

"We have wall-to-wall clients for the next four to five years. We have time to develop a future and keep the business going."