A VITAL £500,000 grant will help repair Chester’s historic Roman walls.

The city council has secured a grant from the European Union to go towards a £1.1m joint scheme called”Portico”.

This will include repairs, improved interpretation for visitors and access improvements. It will also pay for a study to investigate how the city walls can help boost Chester’s local economy as well as new uses for the towers.

Cllr Stuart Parker, city council executive member for development, said:Š“This is great news for the walls and for Chester Renaissance.

“Portico represents another important milestone as we press ahead in our work to restore the walls and move Chester higher up the league table of must see European cities.” As part of the work, Chester will also learn and share ”best practice” with other European cities including Cologne, in Germany, and Ghent, in Belgium, which is leading the Portico project.

Cllr Adrian Walmsley, executive member for resources, said: “It’s fantastic and will spur us on as we continue to look for other external funding.”

In April, a section of the walkway collapsed near the Grosvenor Hotel, days into repair work. As one of the few intact historic walls in the world, the subsidence was identified at a critical part of the walkway linking Eastgate Clock and The Groves.

liammurphy