Hopes of staging a revamped West Mid Show this summer today moved a step closer after bosses applied for a new premises licence.

The licence for the Berwick Road Showground in Shrewsbury, where the 120-year-old event is held, has lapsed following the financial problems which hit organisers last year.

But members of the Shropshire and West Midlands Agricultural Society last month gave their backing to a rescue plan to save the show.

They decided to press ahead with a new show with a theme of From Gate to Plate despite no formal agreement as yet from the West Mid Show’s creditors that they are willing to defer the repayment of £260,000 owed by the society.

As part of the preparation for the show in June, the society has applied for a new premises licence for the site.

Carol Foster, licensing team leader (Central) for Shropshire Council, said it was exactly the same hours and conditions as the previous licence.

She said: “It is for the sale of alcohol and regulated entertainment from 10am until midnight, seven days a week.

“For anything which takes place outside that activity would finish at 11.30pm.

“They have also put forward an operating schedule that is basically the same as the conditions that were on the old licence.”

Mrs Foster said members of the public had until March 4 to make any representations to the authority about the licence.

The launch of the new West Mid Show is under way, with businesses and exhibitors being asked to show their support by reserving trade stands at the event.

Application forms for stands at the Shropshire County Show have been sent out to companies, along with a letter from Shropshire and West Midlands Agricultural Society trustee Roy Dodd.

Mr Dodd has also met Councillor Keith Barrow, the leader of Shropshire Council, to discuss how the authority could support the show, including the possibility of it taking on the lease for the showground.

By Russell Roberts