Historic gates stored in depot for 10 years

The Hartford Hall gates prior to their removal

A council has been storing a set of Grade II listed gates for 10 years because repairs are too expensive.

The gates at Hartford Hall in Northumberland were removed from the grounds in 2004 to be repaired, but work stopped when costs escalated and the estate went bust.

Councillor Malcolm Robinson said the situation was the "equivalent of the Tyne Bridge going missing overnight".

Conservative councillor Colin Horncastle said the authority was in talks with a museum about the future of the gates.

Hartford Hall, near Bedlington, went bust in 2009 and in 2014 the workshop carrying out the repairs refused to keep the gates any longer.

Northumberland County Council stepped in to take stewardship of the gates which remain stored in a council depot, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Legal row'

Mr Robinson said: "There’s a very important part of Bedlington’s heritage missing – the Hartford Hall Gates.

"They are Grade II listed and there are only two sets with that listing in the country."

Mr Robinson has called for the council find funding to repair the gates.

In 2013, Historic England estimated the cost of repairs to be £350,000, according to Mr Horncastle.

On top of this there would be an annual maintenance cost of £2,500 and repainting costs of £25,000 every 15 years.

The council said it had been in talks with a museum about taking on the gates but talks had stalled due to a "legal row over ownership".

Mr Horncastle said: "At the moment, they are securely packaged and the council is starting to reopen discussions with a museum – but they’re not ours."