Town shop saved with help of government grant

A shop which had been vacant for a long time has been repaired and brought back into use with the help of a £10,000 government grant.

Shropshire Council said when 3 Willow Street in Oswestry was purchased in February 2025, it was "uninhabitable" and in need of stabilisation.

Among other things, the money paid for the installation of seven steel beams and the replacement of rotten roof components.

The new owner, Jodie Lamont, said the funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund had "stopped costs spiralling and has allowed us to move forward with confidence".

The council said when the building was bought last year it had no electrics or plumbing and when internal plaster was stripped away, "extensive structural issues" were discovered.

It said: "Cracking and movement throughout the building raised serious concerns, requiring a structural engineer to produce a detailed stabilisation plan."

There had been a risk, it said, that without repairs the future of the building could have been under threat.

Lamont said: "When we first took on the building, the scale of the structural issues was a real concern."

She said the money from the government fund had made it safe and prevented further movement, but she hoped to find more grants to complete the refurbishment.

The UK Shared Prosperity Fund was set up by the government to replace the European Structural and Investment Programme and its Property Improvement Grant programme offers grants of between £2,000 and £10,000.

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