WORK is finally set to start on another water feature in the Malvern Hills for the latest stage of a £1.2m restoration project.

The Malvern Hills Heritage Lottery Project includes 14 water features being restored to their former glory and six cattle grids installed around the slopes.

Work was completed on the first feature - St Ann's Wells, which is in the hills above Great Malvern - last November.

Now project organisers have revealed that planning consent has been granted for the work to be carried out on the next feature - the Clock Tower in West Malvern Road - which is a listed building and owned by Malvern Town Council.

A builder has been appointed and work is now expected to start in mid-July and take about three months to complete.

It will include re-plumbing water into a chamber at the bottom of the tower, various commemorative plaques on the structure being re-cut and re-mortaring work.

The leaky roof is also set to be repaired, the clock faces will be replaced and illuminated and the winding mechanism repaired. A polished granite basin will be installed for the spring water to flow into. Finally, wrought iron gates will be put up at the front and a path created if funds allow.

Town council clerk Richard Chapman said: "The council is absolutely thrilled this has come to fruition and the clock tower can finally be restored.

"It will completely transform this site once the work is done."

The overall restoration project is being funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and co-ordinated by Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Beauty, with the Malvern Hills Conservators, Malvern Town Council and the Malvern Spa Association all being partners in the project.

The next stage in the scheme, which also includes website information being created on all of the water features, is to be the restoration of the Holy Well in Holywell Road, Malvern.

Work on the listed building is set to start in early autumn and it is hoped one or two of the smaller springs in the hills will be refurbished at the same time.