Tuning up for Piano Building battle

Conservationists want to save the Piano Building

Conservationists in Kidderminster are applying for the town's Old Mill to be turned into a listed building in an attempt to save it from developers.

Councillors have given permission for the mill, known as the Piano Building, to be demolished to make way for a multiplex cinema.

Conservationists hope that if the building is given listed status by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, it will be saved from demolition.

Charles Talbot, from Kidderminster Civic Society, said the group would carry on fighting to save the building.

Grand piano

Wyre Forest Council's development control committee approved plans which would give Kidderminster its first cinema in more than 20 years.

Councillors gave the go-ahead for a six-screen complex at the town's Weavers Wharf development.

Developers have been given up to two years to sign a contract with a cinema operator.

The Piano Building gets its name because it resembles a grand piano when viewed from above.