Rift over repair costs to collapsed Ludlow town wall
A rift has opened up over who is responsible for carrying out repairs to Ludlow's town walls after their partial collapse forced homes to be evacuated.
Shropshire Council has claimed the repairs to Ludlow's 800-year-old town wall are down to the Diocese of Hereford and its engineers were now working on the project.
The diocese, however, today claimed it was only responsible for work at The Linney, one of two stretches affected.
Diocesan spokeswoman Anni Holden claimed repairs to the other, a stretch which collapsed in St Laurence's churchyard, were a matter for Shropshire Council.
Mrs Holden said everyone evacuated from properties when the wall collapsed was now back in their homes.
She added: "The wall, which forms the southern boundary of the Ludlow Rectory, is checked regularly as part of a programme of inspections that the Diocese of Hereford carries out on all its properties.
She added: "The diocese is working as swiftly as possible to draw up a schedule of works to refurbish the wall and conduct some localised repairs.
"As the wall is a scheduled monument these works will require the approval of English Heritage before they can start. The St Laurence churchyard is a closed churchyard and therefore the council is responsible for repairs to the wall which has collapsed."
Councillor Martin Taylor-Smith this month said: "Irrespective of ownership, we are going to have to work together to realise the rebuilding but rest assured it will not affect the safety of the public."
