Lottery cash awarded to revamp Shrewsbury's flax mill

More than £460,000 in lottery cash has been awarded to campaigners trying to restore Shrewsbury's flax mill. The money paves the way for a £12 million project.

The flax mill is of national importance because it is the world's first iron-framed building – the forerunner of today's skyscrapers.

Councillor Alan Mosley, chairman of the 800-strong Friends of the Flax Mill Maltings, said the Heritage Lottery Fund award was 'superb news'.

He said it meant the plans put forward by a partnership including Shropshire Council and English Heritage had cleared the first hurdle. It showed that lottery bosses endorsed the outline plans, but needed more detail on how the site could be used for shops, business, the arts and, eventually, housing.

He said there was 'still a lot of work to do' in the next 18 months to convince the lottery to give them £11.6m to 'bring these wonderful buildings back to life again'.

He said they had to prove that the site was sustainable and could pay for itself.

Keith Barrow, leader of Shropshire Council, said: "The application was in competition with other projects, and we were the only bid in the West Midlands to secure a first round pass, which is great news for Shropshire and a welcome endorsement of our outline proposals."

Businesses, including a small brewery, have already shown interest in moving into the restored buildings.