PLANS to refurbish and make safe a dilapidated Kidderminster monument have been put on hold by Wyre Forest District Council.

A near £50,000 scheme to restore the Richard Eve Monument in Brinton Park was considered by members of the council's executive committee last week.

But a decision on the scheme was postponed until February because of the current financial situation which will mean major cuts to services.

The Grade II-listed structure dates from 1902, stands 29ft high and is described as a unique example of late Victorian-style ceramic architecture.

The scheme, which commemorates the death of Richard Eve in 1900, would fund specialist staff to dismantle the memorial, make new items and restore it to its former glory.

Mr Eve, a district benefactor, was the son of a foreman at Hooman and Pardoe Carpet Works.

He qualified as a solicitor and contested seven Parliamentary elections, including two in Kidderminster, but was never successful.

His friends collected funds after his death to set up a monument whose inscription reads "charity was ever his aim".