£50k security bill for station

As much as £50,000 has been ploughed into securing Wolverhampton's historic Low Level station since its future was thrown into doubt, it emerged today.

Developers behind the painstaking restoration of the landmark site say they have been forced to draft in 24-hour security at a cost of £50,000 amid fears it would be "trashed within hours" without it.

Bosses admitted they were no closer to finding a buyer to take over the site, despite original interest from Chinese restaurant chain Wing Wah.

It is expected to stand empty for months while developers try to find a new owner.

The historic city centre site was put back on the market after a long-awaited casino development was dramatically halted at the 11th hour.

Workers from Claremont Leisure were due to have moved in last summer to transform the site with £6 million of Las Vegas-style fittings and fixtures.

But casino chiefs pulled the plug on the project after two years of restoration work to bring the landmark back to life.

It is believed the company pulled out due to the economic downturn and the fact that plans to roll out a national chain of casinos had not gone to plan.

Just weeks after the decision, Oswin Developments, which was behind the restoration, marketed the former station building with property bible Estate Gazette and started forking out for security to protect the site.

Jonathan Cox, spokesman for the Birmingham-based company said: "It costs around £5,000 every month for the security at the site which is a lot of money.

"We are paying for it so it is nothing at all to do with the taxpayers but we really want to find someone to take over.

"Nothing is really moving at the moment so it could be months before anything happens."

The station closed to passenger services in 1964. The casino was meant to be one of the final projects of a wider £35 million development of the area, which also includes homes, a hotel and pub.