Fresh details of a £50,000 scheme to enhance the visitor experience and improve access at a disused mine in Shropshire have been revealed.

Shropshire Mine Trust Limited bosses want to build a new drying room where visitors can prepare for underground tours of Snailbeach Lead Mine in the Shropshire Hills.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has set aside £50,000 for the project and the funds will be released to the trust if planning permission hurdles are cleared.

The trust has applied for permission to restore a former miners’ barracks building at the historic site once dubbed the “richest mine per acre of ground in Europe”.

Adrian Pearce, trust secretary, said the aim of the scheme is to enhance the visitor experience, not boost visitor numbers.

“This mine is slap bang in the middle of a village and we don’t want to ruin people’s way of life,” he said.

“We’re not wanting to turn Snailbeach into the next Ironbridge, but it is the best set of lead mine buildings left in the country.

“We’re excited about the idea and want to make the mine accessible to all and enhance the experience for people who visit.”

He added that the new building could be up and running by next summer if all goes according to plan.

The barracks building currently has no roof and adjoins an existing visitor centre at the mine, where lead ore, silver and barite were extracted until 1955.

It will be transformed into a changing room where visitors can “kit up” before taking a tour into Shropshire’s secret underground past.

New educational facilities for school visits and new handrails on the steps at Lordshill and the engine houses are also on the cards.

A wheelchair ramp for access to the upper works is part of the plans too.

Gareth Proffitt, spokesman for Shropshire Council, said the planning agent for the bid is the authority’s Conservation and Design team, acting on behalf of Shropshire Mine Trust.

He added that a consultation period on the plan will run until September 15 and a decision is due by October 8.

There will be opportunities to visit the mine between 11am and 4pm on Sundays until the end of October.

It is also open for tours this Bank Holiday Monday and on September 19 and 20.