A RACE against time is on to complete work on The Buttercross in Ludlow to turn the historic building into a education centre.

Ludlow Town Council needs to complete the work by the end of March to be eligible for more than £100,000 from Shropshire Council’s Market Town Revitalisation Fund.

But the work must meet the deadline as it cannot be funded from the town council coffers.

It had been intended that the money would form an element of a much more ambitious bid for £1.9 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

But after this was turned down in September last year and the Town Council has decided to cuts its losses and turn the Buttercross into a Heritage Interpretation Centre as a standalone project.

The project includes providing information to visitors on the special aspects of the town with the use of GPS hand-held devices and downloadable apps.

An attempt will be made to resurrect elements of the more ambitious scheme with Shropshire council preparing a new bid from the Heritage Lottery Fund for money for the repair of the town walls.

However, a proposal to develop the castle gardens, castle and riverside walk has been shelved.