One of the rock faces in Castle Mill Basin, Dudley, is to benefit from repair work after the local council approved the £300,000 scheme.

P Forker has been appointed to undertake the work by Dudley Council, which currently leases the Limestone Mines and part of the canal network to Dudley Canal Trust (DCT). Geo Design, the Hampshire-based consultancy, will assist the council and the contractor with the design work for the project, which aims to resolve 'all issues' at the attraction.

It comes after DCT secured £118,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to help progress plans for a £3.5m visitor learning centre for Dudley Canal Tunnel and Limestone Mines, which pulls in around 90,000 visitors a year. DCT chair June Hodgetts said: "The HLF money is tremendous news and these repair works will simply ensure we never reach the point where we lose these fantastic mines.

"People should not worry, the canal is not on the verge of collapse, but clearly if we did not carry out repair works to a rock face of its kind it could result in future issues."