THE struggling project to restore the historic Lady Hungerford Almshouses has been rescued with a new cash injection from North Wiltshire District Council.

The Grade I Listed buildings in Corsham have been covered with plastic sheeting as trustees tried to muster new funds to mend the roof after early works revealed more extensive repairs would be needed.

The £1.5 million project was underfunded to the tune of £156,000, which the district council's executive committee agreed last week to provide as a repayable loan.

The committee also agreed to offer a further £100,000 house renovation grant to the Lady Hungerford Charity towards converting five of the 11 accommodation units into proper homes which can later be let to people through the Westlea Housing Association.

The almshouses are owned by a charitable trust but the buildings have deteriorated over the last century. Since 1996/7, new trustees have embarked on a scheme of repair and renovation to bring the building into use again.

Trustee Anne Aust said: "This is such an important building replacement roof tiles have to be handmade from a certain type of limestone which is very rare and that's just one part of the restoration. With a listed building of an almost unique nature and prestige every step of the way has to be approved and costs have risen in the meantime."

The almshouses, which include a schoolroom with the original furniture still intact, were built in the late 17th century.

The houses still retain built-in dressers which Lady Hungerford included in her original plans.

The district council offered two grants of £120,000 and £204,000 in 1998 towards the repairs and the trustees secured additional funds and loans from the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage and the Almshouse Trust, totalling £1,292,577.

Work started at the beginning of last year, with stage one involving the removal of the roof covering to work out exactly what needed to be done. This is when the extra costs involved became apparent.

Then in May, district council officers stopped the grant payments, until they were sure the project had been reviewed and a firm programme sent in showing the trustees had enough funding to complete the works and provide the housing units.

This left contractors and professional agents unpaid, but officers are now happy the project can be completed and interim payments can be made. In September, the trustees appointed a new professional design team to review costs and funding.

Three months ago Coun Richard Tonge was taken on as clerk to the trustees and he told members of the executive committee he had undertaken a root and branch analysis of the background and met with the contractors.

Coun Christine Reid, who is also a trustee, paid tribute to Coun Tonge's efforts to sort out the difficulties. "We are extremely grateful to him for his help," she said.

After the meeting Mrs Aust said the trustees were delighted work could get under way again.