THE council must get tougher and 'name and shame' landlords allowing the city's historical buildings to rot, a councillor has said.

Worcester City Council has published its latest 'at risk' register which highlights which of the city's greatest historical assets are close to being lost forever if action is not taken soon.

Councillor Roger Berry has said the city council should be taking tougher action on landlords and developers for allowing the buildings to be falling into a bad state.

One of the latest sites to be added to the ‘at risk’ register included the Gilding House, which is part of the old Royal Porcelain Works, and has been described as in a very bad state.

Cllr Berry said Berkeley Homes, which owns the Gilding House, had made record profits this year and the council should start serving notices on the developer.

“It’s not good enough,” he told the city council's planning committee at a meeting on Thursday (February 20).

“They may not be happy that they haven’t found a use for it but they have got responsibilities to manage that building and I really would be saying ‘what actions are we taking?’”

The council’s heritage officers said “conversations were underway” and it was meeting with Berkeley Homes this week to discuss the Gilding House. Adding the building to the ‘at risk’ register was the first step to a solution, they said.

The council also said it would rather negotiate and work with the developer than be hostile and get off on the wrong foot leaving the building further ‘at risk’ by handing out directives.

Cllr Berry said owners should have to “stand up and be counted” and said he was happy to name and shame Berkeley Homes for allowing the heritage building to fall into a state where it had to be added to the council's 'at risk' register.

Cllr Chris Mitchell, chairman of the planning committee, said: “As a committee, we probably all endorse Cllr Berry’s comments and the fact that we are, at times, understanding resources is an issue, we are little bit too slow and too nice sometimes in terms of our enforcement and be should be holding some of these landlords, particularly when they are multinational corporations, to account on the upkeep of their properties.

“It doesn’t make the city look good and it damages, particularly in this case, historic buildings that are at risk.”

In better news, a grade II-listed building in Silver Street, the site of Worcester’s first infirmary in the 1740s, has been fully repaired and is off the 'at risk' register.