London

The UK Medical Research Council (MRC) has shelved plans to close its largest laboratory, at Mill Hill in north London — at least for the time being.

In April, the MRC proposed that the prestigious National Institute for Medical Research should move to Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, 50 miles away (see Nature 422, 545; 200310.1038/422545a). MRC officials said that the move would save money and improve interactions between basic and clinical researchers.

But the plan infuriated biomedical researchers at Mill Hill, who said they already had a strong track record of collaborating with clinical researchers at various London hospitals, which employ a wider range of specialists than is found at Addenbrooke's.

Now their protests, which were supported by several Members of Parliament, seem to have hit home. In a letter sent on 30 May to John Skehel, a virologist and director of the Mill Hill institute, MRC chief executive George Radda said that the council would abandon its original intention of reaching a decision on the move by next month.

Radda said that the future of the institute would instead be decided by a task force chaired jointly by himself and Colin Blakemore, the University of Oxford neuroscientist who will succeed him as chief executive in October (see Nature 423, 211; 200310.1038/423211b).

Unlike the subcommittee behind the original proposal, the task force will include scientists from Mill Hill itself, as well as from outside Britain. “This is a step forward in terms of consultation,” says Skehel.

Despite their relief at the reprieve, researchers at Mill Hill say that they are still worried that continuing uncertainty could damage the institute.