AFTER months of careful restoration work, a Victorian weather vane has been put back where it belongs - at the top of Worcester's Pump House Environment Centre.

Repairs included metal work, a complete rebuild of the wooden base it stands on, and a coating of golf leaf, to make it glean in the summer sun.

Alan Bushnell, from Worcester City Council, which funded the £8,000 project, which includes the cost of restoration and hiring a crane to place the vane on the roof, said: "The restoration is part of the on going improvements to the pump house,"

On Monday, the vane was lifted by a 50-tonne crane on to the roof of the centre, which is a former Victorian pump house now occupied by the environment charity, The Worcestershire Duckworth Trust.

The Trust has a commitment to sustainability, which is why the building utilises sustainable technologies and materials.

These include harvesting rainwater to flush the toilets, small-scale wind turbines, photovoltaic solar cells, which use energy from sunlight to generate electricity and ground source heat pumps, used to supply the under-floor heating system.

and sheep wool insulation in floors and roof spaces.

There are also natural building material, including marmoleum flooring, made from linseed oil, pine rosin, wood-flour, cork-flour, limestone and jute, clay plaster and sisal carpets, which are made from plant fibres coloured with natural dyes.