Restored cathedral tower reopens

The restoration project has taken three years to complete

Hereford Cathedral tower has opened to visitors following a three-year £600,000 restoration.

Visitors have been given tours of the tower, which offers panoramic views of the city and countryside.

Repairs have been carried out to the leaded roof and three pinnacles at the top of the tower, as well as several hundred ball-flower sculptures.

The tower will be open to visitors on Thursdays and Saturdays throughout the summer.

Cathedral spokesman Dominic Harbour said: "We've been working up to this really for the last three years and it's been a massive restoration project to the three pinnacles.

"They've all been taken to pieces like one big jigsaw puzzle spread across the huge scaffolding structure we've had in place for such a long time.

"So many of the ball-flowers have had to be re-carved - we're talking about hundreds and hundreds.

"There's been some interesting old sculptural elements that have been kept and put back so you can spot those."