A SHARP jump in the cost of running Malvern's landmark gas lamps has put a question mark over their future.

The annual cost of maintaining the lamps is to rise by £10,000 to £28,000 after a move to privatise the service.

Part of the streetscene, the lamps have had their critics who claim they are expensive to run and produce sub-standard lighting.

Despite this they are part of Malvern's heritage and were the inspiration for the children's story The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, author C S Lewis having been a pupil at Malvern College.

Malvern Hills District Council, which part funds and organises maintenance, agreed on Tuesday to shift work from in-house to a private contractor, saying it should be done by a CORGI-registered gas-fitter.

The move follows a risk-assessment carried out by the council.

MHDC owns 15 lamps but most belong to Malvern Town Council (20), Malvern Wells Parish Council (48) and West Malvern Parish Council (25). It currently contributes half the maintenance cost of lamps belonging to the parishes.

MHDC will pay the extra until the end of this financial year before holding discussions with parishes on the best way forward.

John Tretheway, Wells MHDC member and a parish councillor, said: "It is not really possible to say what the outcome of this will be."

But he said: "Some people will say they are an anachronism and should be converted to run on electricity, and some people will be strongly opposed."

He said several gas lamps in the parish, in Watery Lane, had been converted to electricity following a fire in one of them.

Brian Wilcock, another Wells parish council member, said: "If the costs rise, there will almost certainly be calls for the gas lamps on the main road and through the Wells to be replaced by electricity."

He said a parish poll some years ago was split about 50-50 between those favouring retention and conversion.

Meanwhile there has been a move to give the lamps protection by getting them listed, a decision currently in the hands of the Government.

Colin Jackson, chairman of West Malvern Parish Council, said: "We will be looking into the options, including the possibility of going our own way, if some cost-effective way of doing so can be found."

n What do you think is the way forward? Write to: Letters to the Editor, Malvern Gazette, Broads Bank, Malvern, WR14 2HP.