Work to fix the botched restoration of Ledbury’s war memorial has been delayed.

Ledbury Town Council had hoped that repairs could get started in August but the process has taken longer than expected.

A previous restoration of the High Street monument took place in 2020 following a £30,000 donation from former Lancaster bomber Stuart Heaton, but cracks and green mould started appearing just months later.

Wooden planters were placed around the Grade II listed monument in High Street to stop its base being a trip hazard.

And angry residents even visited the original contractors to stage a demonstration.

READ MORE: Ledbury Market House report finds 'concerning' signs of deterioration

A spokesperson for Ledbury Town Council explained why work hasn’t started yet.

“There has been a slight delay because it took longer than expected to dig the investigation pits underneath the memorial and to get that report,” they said.

“We’re also waiting on a Listed Building consent form from Herefordshire Council.

War memorial work could be done in phases

“The specification documents have been drafted and sent to the contractors who have agreed to tender, so hopefully it’ll go to council for consideration soon and we can get the work done.”

To ensure the monument is available for memorial services over the coming months, the council is considering doing the work in two phases - one for the paving and then another for the memorial itself.

A report put before councillors earlier this year said test pits were dug in May to enable a CCTV cable to be fed underneath the memorial. This enabled a structural engineer to look for evidence of subsidence among other concerns.

No issues were found, although the engineer confirmed that paving around the base of the monument was inadequate.

“We’re changing the style of paving at the base of the memorial to be brick set, so there’ll be less chance of it breaking when vehicles mount the kerb,” the spokesperson added.

“There will also be a new paving stone with Mr Heaton’s name on.

“We want to make sure this is done right this time for the people of the town. Councillors want to get this right. We want these repairs to last.”