Landmark M6 artwork is scrapped

The idea was to celebrate the area's engineering history

Plans to build a landmark piece of art spanning the M6 in the Black Country have been scrapped after an £18m lottery bid was turned down.

Walsall Regeneration Company planned to build a Black Country Gateway over the motorway between junctions 9 and 10.

The stainless steel structure was intended to symbolise the engineering heritage of the area.

The organisation said it would now concentrate on smaller works of community art instead.

The agency's chief executive, Dr Peter Cromar, said: "It's highly unlikely we will go ahead with the major piece of art that we'd talked of.

"But the lessons I draw from this bid is it's been very important in raising the area's profile and showing we're serious about regeneration."