FOLLOWING months of tireless campaigning, a dilapidated wall and much-criticised "eyesore" in Kidderminster is being repaired.

Wyre Forest district Conservative councillor, Arthur Buckley, responsible for Habberley and Blakebrook, had been inundated with complaints about the decaying wall, between Mill Street and Mill Lane, over the past two years.

Wyre Forest Highways Partnership Unit had cordoned off the rubble, which had gathered on the Mill Lane side of the wall, but pedestrians were still forced to step off the footpath to walk around it.

After campaigning on behalf of local residents, Councillor Buckley was delighted the repair work was almost complete.

He said: "The wall had become unsafe and had collapsed at the top, due to shrubbery that was undermining it. Following years of neglect, the wall had become unsafe and had already collapsed in places.

"The wall was heavily overgrown and had become a much criticised eyesore that had blighted the top of Mill Street for some considerable time.

"I finally managed to convince the Wyre Forest Highways Partnership to take action, with the help of district councillor, Marcus Hart. After nearly two years of campaigning, Mill Lane has reopened and the work is nearly complete."

Wyre Forest Highways Partnership unit manager, Andy Broome, said the work was being carried out over four weeks and was in its finishing stages.

He added: "We monitored the wall for a long period of time and waited until such time as we could fit it into our maintenance programme, rather than carrying out emergency repair work, which would have proved costly.

"We managed to incorporate it in the 2005/2006 maintenance budget and after identifying a contractor, carried out the work. We are now in the final stages."