£1.9m plan to restore Ludlow buildings left in doubt

A £1.9 million bid to revamp buildings in Ludlow which could create dozens of jobs was hanging in the balance today after Heritage Lottery Fund chiefs rejected plans.

Ludlow Town Council launched the bid to carry out work to a number of landmarks in the town, including the Buttercross.

But lottery bosses are unhappy with proposals to install sliding glass doors in the area underneath the Buttercross in a bid to prevent anti-social behaviour.

Members of Ludlow Town Council are now drawing up new plans.

Town clerk Veronica Calderbank said the whole bid for the project, which will cost £2 million, with funding from other sources, now rested on resolving the issue over the glass doors at the Buttercross.

Ms Calderbank said: "We have had our designer draw up external and internal views of how the glass will look. There is some concern from people at the Heritage Lottery Fund that the glass will look out of place.

"They would prefer we install gates. But we believe the glass would be a better option as they would slide shut and not require holes to be drilled into the walls.

"The whole bid now rests on these doors. They are needed because we have a problem with anti-social behaviour in the town, centred around the Buttercross."

She said the Buttercross was 'was littered with graffiti'.

The funding, which could create dozens of local jobs, would also be used to restore town walls, walks and paths.