PLANS to repair Alcester’s historic town hall building have been delayed until after Winter, because it hasn’t been possible to accurately match new replacement stones to the original stonework on the building.

A stonemason has been working with the Town Hall committee to find stones for the repair work to one of the exterior walls of the 17th century building, but so far two separate attempts to cut new stones have failed to satisfy the standards of the committee.

Speaking at a meeting of Alcester Town Council, Councillor Mike Gittus, said: “I’ve seen the stone samples, and they weren’t very satisfactory, they weren’t a good match.

“Work had been anticipated to start before the winter period, but the whole business about matching the stone has meant that the work cannot continue until after the winter period.”

Councillor Chris Gough, added: “We’re talking about two pieces of stone.

“There’s a mish mash of stone within the town hall, and the pieces we are trying to find are sand stone, probably from local quarries, but they’re no longer working quarries, so consequently over the years, different pieces of stone have been put into the town hall. Even if we got identical stone that’s recently been quarried, it won’t look the same, but the stone mason is working on it.”

Chemical tests are now being undertaken on the stones due to be replaced, so that a more accurate match can be made for replacements, early next year.