CAMPAIGNERS are drawing up a £3 million heritage lottery bid to restore a historic building at the heart of a Gwent community.

The Shire Hall in Monmouth town centre is a Grade I listed building badly in need of repair.

Now the bid for Heritage Lottery Funding means a £4.5 million restoration project on the building is one step closer to reality.

The bid's success or failure will be announced in July. Monmouthshire county council is helping co-ordinate the bid, which is also supported by the town council and the Shire Hall Stewards, a voluntary group.

Secretary of the Shire Hall Stewards, Barbara Wright, said: "The stonework outside, particularly the arches, needs a lot of repair and the clock needs to be refurbished."

The exterior walls are suffering almost 300 years of weathering. Jenny Lewis, a council co-ordinator for the project, said: "It is a beautiful building at the heart of the town.

"It has always been a centre for Monmouth and it is nice to think all the interested groups are working together to restore it to its former glory. "It's a question of getting it done sooner rather than later before conservation becomes impossible and we have to replace the walls."

As well as the £3m lottery bid the fund will be boosted by £125,000 from the town council, £100,000 from Cadw and donations from groups including Rolls-Royce plc, which has an interest in the statue of Charles Rolls in front of the building.

A contribution is also expected to come from Monmouthshire county council.

The £4.5m total will pay for the total refurbishment of the building, including the installation of a lift. It will also pay for the creation of a visitor attraction and education centre.

The present building dates from 1724 and was the setting for the Chartist trial in 1840.