DISTRICT councillors this week agreed to spend an extra £384,500 on cleaning up the old depot site at Pickersleigh Road in Malvern.

The site, formerly the town's gas works, is being sold to developer Alfred McAlpine, to build a health centre and houses.

It has to be decontaminated before work can begin, but the estimated cost of the work has soared to £1,478,700.

Among the reasons for the increase are that 3,900 cubic metres of material has had to be removed, when the original estimate was 1,400 cubic metres.

There were also undiscovered tar pits under buildings on the site, plus an electrical cable and a sewer that were not marked on any records.