Fresh fears over safety of Ludlow Town Walls
A number of residents were evacuated from their homes in Ludlow last night following fresh fears over the safety of a section of Ludlow Town Walls.
The section of the wall, backs on to a small number of residential properties’ gardens in The Linney, it’s owned by the Diocese of Hereford.
An engineer who inspected the wall on behalf of the Diocese has reported that the condition of the wall has seriously deteriorated over the past year, and is now considered to be unsafe.
Shropshire Council advised the people living in the properties to leave their homes as a precautionary measure while engineers further assess the situation.
Council leader, Keith Barrow, and local members, Rosanna and Martin Taylor-Smith, spoke to the residents concerned to advise them of the situation on Friday evening.
Residents who live near Ludlow Town Wall and have not been contacted should not be concerned, as the council say they have informed everyone who is directly impacted.
Councillor Barrow said:
“We are talking to the Diocese of Hereford and advising them to urgently review the safety of this particular section of the wall. Our number one concern is the safety of residents, and we are advising the people who live in these particular properties to temporarily leave their homes to be absolutely sure that they are safe.”
Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow North, Rosanna Taylor-Smith, added:
“We would like to reassure people that we are doing everything possible to manage the situation. We are talking to the Diocese of Hereford to urgently arrange further work to decide how we can make the wall safe.”
The residents have been offered temporary accommodation by the council, but are of course able to stay with friends or relatives if they prefer. It is unclear at this stage how long they will be advised to vacate their properties.
Superintendent, James Tozer, police commander for Shropshire, said:
“Public safety is a real priority for all emergency services, and we are working to support the local authority during this incident.”
Ludlow’s town walls are one of the most complete ancient perimeter defences of any historic town in England and date back some 800 years.
