Can locals save mansion that needs £20m of repairs?

Two thirds of Ashton Court Mansion is derelict

A group has been set up to save a historic Grade I listed building that has an estimated repair bill of £20m.

Save Ashton Court Mansion wants to raise funds to restore the Bristol City Council-owned building, parts of which date back to the 14th Century.

The mansion is two-thirds derelict and the council said it was open to assistance in restoring the landmark.

Simon Birch, the group's founder, said: "What we're looking for is them to turn around and say 'we're not the solution, we've had it for 65 years so let's hand it over to another organisation'."

"It's just not a top priority for the council," added Mr Birch, who formerly chaired Bristol Civic Society.

Tony Dyer, leader of the council, said that the authority "understands the importance" of the mansion.

"We therefore recognise why people feel strongly about helping to protect and improve the building and are open to working with any groups or members of the community with suggestions for the future," he said.

The mansion's upper floors are in need of a complete renovation

The group said they have had productive conversations with the council.

Norman Routledge, founder of Bristol Historic Buildings, said: "We don't need £20m, we only need £1m to get going and I think we could raise that quite easily."

Mr Routledge, who has been involved in a number of significant local restoration projects including The Mount Without, a former church, and Kings Weston House, added: "There's a lot of good will and good people around Bristol who would hopefully raise a lot of that money."

However, Mr Routledge believes that there is a race against time to make a full restoration possible.

"The roof is fundamentally OK and that's its saving grace but there's a lot of original items that have been taken apart and dispersed around the city and if we don't do something soon then all of that will be lost," he said.

The previous owners of the mansion were the Smyths, a family that had links with the transatlantic slave trade and lived on the estate for 400 years.