AN extra £30,000 will be needed to finish building a WW2 memorial park.

Worcester City Council has revealed that another £30,000 needs to be set aside to create the Meco Memorial Nature Park on land between Sanctuary Close and Hopton Street in St John’s, Worcester.

The extra money needed to complete the work would mean the budget would double the cost agreed upon in 2020.

The memorial will commemorate the seven people killed and 50 injured in St John's when a lone German bomber hit the old Meco works in Bromyard Road on October 3, 1940.

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The bombing, which also destroyed a number of houses, was the only attack to cause a loss of life in Worcester during the Second World War.

The ground has already been cleared under the current budget and the council said there is still enough money left for a memorial sculpture – which will be paid for by St John’s county councillor Richard Udall using funds given to each councillor to spend how they wish – new seating and an orchard.

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With the lack of funds currently available, the council’s environment committee will now be asked to put aside another £30,000 to carry out the rest of the work, which includes a boardwalk, steps, kickabout space and new paths.

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Having earmarked up to £30,000 for the new memorial park in 2020 based on expected prices for a preferred list of facilities, the council was left in a difficult position last summer having received four quotes for the work that ranged from £82,000 to as much as £93,000 – more than triple the money that would be available.

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The council then went back to the bidders asking what it could get for the money that was available.

A landscape contractor was eventually appointed in January, but before the council could arrange the first site visit, the firm turned down the job saying it could no longer carry out the work because of a “restructure.”

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Not building the memorial park to the standard it had previously agreed would leave the council running the risk of breaching its agreement with Platform Housing over funding.

The city council signed a deal with housing association Fortis, which was later taken over by Platform Housing, for £13,000 towards the building of the park as part of a controversial decision to build 25 homes on the green space despite more than 100 objections.