Bid to save Shropshire mural by world war cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather

The painting is inside the recently sold Victory House in Ludlow, which was a former Royal British Legion headquarters.

A planning application, submitted to Shropshire Council, has been granted to turn the building into a shop, but a separate application detailing changes to the building, such as painting it grey, is still awaiting the decision.

The painting is by Bruce Bairnsfather, a cartoonist in both the First and Second World Wars, and is painted directly on to the wall next to the stairs.

Bairnsfather was best known for his comic creation Old Bill who appeared weekly in The Bystander magazine during the First World War. The cartoonist lived in Clun for a while.

The mural – which bears the motto 'Old soldiers never die, they simply fade away' – is one of two known works in the county.

Ludlow councillor, Jim Smithers, said: "When we realised the building had to be put up for sale, I checked the listing with Historic England and it wasn't on the listing but I spoke to Ludlow RBL and they agreed they wanted it saved, so I have now been tasked with doing that.

"When I found out it wasn't listed, I applied to have it listed, that means whoever owns the building has got to look after it.

"I've been in contact with the people who now own the building, they will support me with this and I am now working with the local school and a local author Keith Pybus. What we've now got to do is put in an application to Heritage Lottery for the funding to have the mural restored and removed.

"I've had a quote and that's about £10,000. The idea is we restore it in situ, which is the easiest way of doing it, they will then go through the process of chipping it out of the wall, hopefully in one piece, frame it up so it can be hanged anywhere.

"We have to go through lottery funding to do that. We will then need to go back to Shropshire Council to get listed building consent to get it off the wall.

"I've got emails from Historic England saying it is not only of local importance but also national, as he was an officer in World War One. He ended up suffering from shell shock and was brought back to England to recuperate.

"He used to put his work in a magazine called The Bystander and was paid by the government to do it.

"I'm hoping that we can get permission to put it into The Buttercross Museum or the library, as it needs to be on public display."