THE bids are in and it's now down to the assessors is the good news from Community First on ambitious plans to build a Community Resource Centre in Tenbury.

However, unexpected clauses in the agreement over the sale of land and a tangle of red tape, have knocked the project off schedule.

The proposal for a One-Stop Shop on land behind the post office in Teme Street is for a state-of-the-art community asset for the whole town. It is expected to include a new sorting office, council chamber with additional rooms, and space for charitable and voluntary groups.

Joint postmasters Susan and Malcolm Chase, who own the land and are responsible for the present sorting office, are concerned over the future of the scheme.

Mr Chase told the Advertiser: "From our point of view, our main problems are with the new addition of unexpected clauses in the original agreement we had with Community First. These have not yet been solved, no-one keeps us up-to-date and we have no idea where we go from here."

Problems over planning permission, finally approved earlier this year, forced the initial application's funding to be held back, but a revised expression from Community First, who are running the project, was sent to Advantage West Midlands Rural Regeneration Zone for assessment on March 31.

Cathy Jackson-Reed from Community First, said: "I spoke to Mr Chase at the end of March and put him in the picture. We are very sensitive to their position but will, at some stage, need to discuss the problem clauses with them.

"These centre on how the new building will affect his business and commercial interests and the available spill-over space at the site. Until these issues are sorted out we do not have any guarantee of funding.

"The long, drawn out planning application has made it very difficult for us all and has caused us many problems. Our project advisors have worked very hard on our behalf to keep the project on the road."