A VICTORIAN fountain which forms the focal point of a Worcester park is set to be removed and renovated in a £28,000 clean-up.

The refurbishment of Cripplegate Park's cast-iron fountain - made at the Blockhouse foundry of Hardy and Padmore and presented to the city by Richard Padmore in 1858 - will start this week when the huge feature is dismantled.

The fountain has been a landmark in the park since 1924 and the clean-up exercise - the biggest in its 146-year history - involves stripping paint off the surface and returning it to full working order.

It will be transported to a Wolverhampton foundry for the work to take place and the scheme will also involve blasting the ironwork down to the metal.

Missing features, including moulded lion masks, will be re-cast using one of the remaining heads from the six-sided base and replaced.

The fountain is also due for a new lick of paint and will be decorated in dark green, gold and cream.

As part of the scheme, due to be completed by Easter, the iron gates and arch fronting New Road and thought to date from the same time as the fountain, will also be removed and renovated.

Cash has been set aside for the whole project from the council's repair and maintenance budget.

However, it is proposed to add the cost of works to a bid for Lottery cash for a scheme covering the park and the regeneration of the riverside later this year.

"Cast in the city and a recognised feature since the 1850s, the fountain is an important part of Worcester's history," said Tim Taylor, Worcester City Council's maintenance contracts officer.

"As there are major plans in hand for both of the city's main parks, the time is right to restore it to its former glory - though until they've stripped off years of paintwork to reveal the base metal, we don't know the full extent of the work involved."

The company behind the refurbishment has also recently renovated the Boer War memorial outside the city's Cathedral, including works to re-fix the Worcestershire Regiment soldier's bayonet that had eroded.

The fountain was previously sited in the former Market Hall, stretching from the High Street to the Shambles for more than 60 years and, before then, some historians believe it could have been exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851.