LUDLOW is to have a traditional English oak to commemorate those that have died in the Covid pandemic.

The town council has responded to a suggestion from the Royal Horticultural Society.

The oak tree will be planted on the site near Sidney Road in the town that was at one time earmarked for housing.

A campaign by local residents and councillors led to the housing association Connexus deciding not to go ahead with plans to build homes on the site.

Instead is it in the process of being sold to Ludlow Town Council who will turn the area into a town green.

The site will also form part of the bid by the town to win a 17th successive gold in the Heart of England in Bloom competition.

Ludlow Town Council decided on the plan at a meeting and Vivienne Parry, who is a town councillor and heads Ludlow in Bloom. hopes that the tree can be planted in the next few weeks.

“It is appropriate that it will be an oak trees as these are traditionally English and live for hundreds of year,” she said.

“There will be a protective barrier around the tree and it will stand as a long term memorial to those who have died in this terrible pandemic.”

The oak will replace a tree that was taken down before the decision was made not to go ahead with the housing scheme.

There was a lengthy campaign to save the green space adjacent to Sidney Road but it looked doomed after Connexus gained planning permission for five bungalows.

Then just before Christmas 2019 the housing association had a change of heart and decided to sell the land to Ludlow Town Council for a nominal sum.

More than a year has passed but the intervention of coronavirus meant that the legal details have still to be completed.

The site will be developed as a town green for the enjoyment of people of all ages but this has also been delayed by the virus.