£8 a year on council tax as £500,000 loan to be taken out for repairs to wall next to Bridgnorth Cliff Railway

The meeting was arranged to provide the public with information on the costs of fixing the damaged retaining wall and to propose methods of funding it.

Bridgnorth Cliff Railway was closed on health and safety grounds last December following the discovery of a damaged retaining wall surrounding the funicular railway in High Town.

The closure of the attraction saw 14 staff made redundant and its loss has affected businesses in the town as well as making it harder for residents and visitors to go from Low Town to High Town.

At a meeting earlier this month, Bridgnorth residents were told that originally a 7.5-metre section of wall was found to be in need of repair but that turned into 65.5 metres by the time the works finished as more damage was revealed.

A small section of wall away from the Cliff Railway is still under repair, although the attraction is free to reopen once it has re-hired staff and conducted its engineering checks.

Residents heard on Thursday that the £750,000 estimated cost to fix the retaining wall, was larger than the town council's receipts from council tax and more than Bridgnorth Town Council's reserves, leaving it with a £500,000 deficit in its accounts.

Options for the council included applying for money from the government's Public Works Loan Board or reclaiming some of the money back from the operator of the Cliff Railway, which the town council said had "shared liability" for a small section of the wall.

However, the owner of the funicular railway, Malvern Tipping, has said that if Bridgnorth Cliff Railways reserves were "gobbled up by a claim by the town council" it would "throw the whole future of the Cliff Railway into question".

Councillor Nicky Cooper told residents on Thursday that Bridgnorth Town Council's reserves did not cover the repair bill for the wall.

Instead, she the council was set to borrow £500,000 over 25-years from the Government's Public Works Loan Board (PWLB). .

She told the audience in Castle Hall that the result of the loan will be that Bridgnorth taxpayers would have to pay an extra £8 in their council tax precept each year. She added that the total repayment over 25 years would cost £970,000 including interest.

However, town council clerk Clare Turner said that before they could apply for the loan they had to seek Bridgnorth taxpayer's permission in the form of a consultation and a questionnaire.

She added that if residents sided against getting the PWLB loan, then Bridgnorth Town Council would be forced to pay for the repairs one go, which could see the council tax precept rise for a single year by more than £100.

She said: "The town council must seek resident's views over the borrowing proposal of £500,000 over 25 years and the Town Council must provide our taxpayers, the residents of Bridgnorth, with enough information to answer these questions."

She said drop-in sessions would take part throughout Low Town and High Town during the consultation, which opens on November 27 and closes on January 10.