A MODERN-day version of an ancient mythical structure has taken a step closer to becoming a reality in Malvern.

The Friends of Malvern Hills Springs and Wells want to see a special kind of maze put in Rose Bank Gardens as a tourist attraction and tribute to Malvern's founding father St Werstan.

The maze would be a Troia labyrinth, a design that is believed to go back to ancient Crete. The group's organisers Cora Weaver and Bruce Osborne visited the site this week with representatives from Malvern Hills District Council, which owns the gardens, and world labyrinth expert Jeff Saward, of Essex.

Ms Weaver, a local historian, said: "We had a look at the site and we have to put together a proposal and see where we go from there.

"The council seems to be in favour of it as long as it is low-maintenance.

"We will wait to hear from Jeff Saward. He will come up with a plan of it to fit the size of the area we have to work with. He will decide on the best materials to be user-friendly and low maintenance.

"We will have to find a landscape artist to cost it and make it. We would like it to have a fountain in the middle because there is a natural spring on the site but I am not quite sure how we are going to do that yet. We would also like it to have some alignment with the sunrise at certain times of the year."

Ms Weaver said the area is midway between the site of St Werstan's mid 11th-century chapel and the later Priory Church. She hoped the labyrinth would be a focal point for the gardens, which are not well used, and be an attraction for families to visit.

She also hoped a statue of St Werstan could be included as and when there was enough money.