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Town wall collapse 'poses risk' to church

BBC Four people standing in front of metal barriers and granite-filled bags, supporting a collapsed stone wall. St Laurence's Church tower is in the background. BBC
A lack of repairs in nearly 12 years has prompted a threat of legal action by the church

Church leaders are preparing legal action, amid claims that delays to the repair of Ludlow Town Walls could be putting their historic building at risk.

The stone wall adjoining St Laurence's collapsed 12 years ago, and temporary measures to prop up the wall are failing according to Ludlow Town Walls Trust.

The parochial church council (PCC) is threatening legal proceedings if Ludlow Town Council does not take action, claiming its tower and north transept could be undermined.

The BBC has approached the council for comment.

A letter sent by lawyers for the PCC said it was "profoundly concerned" that the failure to repair the wall risked further land slippage and a risk to the safety of people living nearby.

In the absence of progress, they said they would initiate legal proceedings for a judicial review, and file a complaint of maladministration with the Local Government Ombudsman.

A 10m (33ft) section of wall behind St Laurence's collapsed in February 2013 and has been fenced off ever since.

There are concerns that a failure to repair Ludlow’s town walls could cause damage.

Wrangling over who should be responsible for the repairs came to a head in 2015 when the town council accepted responsibility.

But Robert Owen from the PCC said the authority was "seeking to reopen the debate over who's responsible".

The church and other interested parties want the council to publish a structural engineering report, commissioned in 2017.

Mr Owen said a great deal of taxpayers' money had been spent on the report and associated legal advice.

He called on the council to "alter its current bunker mentality and engage in constructive dialogue with other willing partners".

After a meeting with interested parties in September, the town council issued a statement saying the Town Walls Trust was the logical body to "explore cost-effective solutions which would not impact financially on rate-payers or the town in general".

Getty Images A shot of a large stone church building, taken from low level looking up at the tower and other parts of the church. A blue flag flies from one crenellated roof. Getty Images
Church leaders at St Laurence's fear it could be at risk structurally if the wall is not fixed

The chairman of the Trust, Colin Richards, said the community had had enough of delays.

He added that the wall was a major part of Ludlow's heritage, and years of rain since the collapse could affect the stability of St Laurence's itself.

Mr Richards said: "The tower weighs 3,000 tonnes, equivalent to ten jumbo jets stacked on top of each other".

The chairman of Ludlow Residents Group, Darren Childs, said 900 residents signed a petition earlier this year: "People don't care who's responsible for the repairs, they just want action".

A meeting of the residents group will be held at the Women's Centre in Ludlow on Friday evening to discuss its next steps.

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