Safety fears building has major repairs

The roof and part of the first floor of an 18th century building in Kidderminster has had to have £70,000 worth of extensive repairs carried out following concerns that the building was becoming unsafe.

The building which houses Smith's Bikes and Smithy's sandwich bar was in a rundown state.

Work started recently to rebuild a large part of the roof and part of the first floor walls which were starting to become unstable and bow.

The building, in New Road, is believed to date back to the 1836 and had not had much work carried for a few years, according to builders. The first floor which is also being refurbished had been empty for many years.

Tom Fellows TD Fellows builders, based in Bewdley, said today: "The roof was not in a good state and it was becoming a risk to the public. If it had been left much longer it would have been a danger.

"The roof was bowing out at the top and it was not attached properly to the walls. There hasn't been much work carried out on it for some time.

"The owner of the building did not want to leave the building in a poor state in the future as it is his legacy and it is quite an old building dating back to around the early 1880s."

Smith's Bikes has been in Kidderminster for 90 years and Mr Roger Smith, the present owner, said: "The building needed a lot of work like all old buildings do."

Urgent repair work has also had to be carried out on a shop in the Horsefair in the town after some of the wooden building was found to be unsafe.