'We must preserve city's historical buildings'

Heritage campaigners in a city are trying to help save some historical buildings from being damaged or lost to fire, vandalism and dereliction.

Rachael Bryson from Preserving Preston's Heritage said she was "very concerned" buildings in the Lancashire city, including the former home of suffragette Edith Rigby in Winckley Square, the Harris Institute in Avenham, and the former main Post Office on the Flag market, were falling into disrepair.

"We need to save them, it's as simple as that," the former history teacher said.

The city council has set up a task force to try to work with private owners to try to safeguard the properties.

In collaboration with Preston police and Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, the council task force will focus on ensuring building owners take responsibility for the safety and security of their properties.

The local authority has said the neglect of some empty buildings in the city centre had resulted in "significant challenges", including fire risks, water damage, and anti-social behaviour.

It pledged to "take formal action if this is not happening".

Ms Bryson said: "We have got some fantastic history and heritage in Preston and buildings that go with that, and we need to save them.

"People are not securing buildings.

"They are unsafe, people are getting into them causing damage and that is part of the problem."

She said some, such as the derelict Tithebarn pub, were owned by the council who "could, and should, do something about it".

Councillor Freddie Bailey, cabinet member for environment and community safety, said: "It's really heartwarming to see that people do genuinely take pride in this and we understand their frustration because we feel it too.

"The majority of these buildings are in private ownership and it's a real shame that we can't be directly invested in them ourselves, but we're spending £200m in the city centre on assets that we own.

"We're engaging a lot more with the owners now and we're going to take a much more hardline approach on them securing their buildings and then get more investment in them so we can protect them for the future."

He said the authority was looking for investment for the Tithebarn pub, and was "spending about £7m on Amounderness House and millions on the Harris".

"We're looking at doing investment in our heritage assets and we need other people to follow suit," he said.

Some of the Preston buildings the heritage group is concerned about:

• Grade I listed Harris Institute - subject to a planning application but recently targeted by criminals
• Grade II listed St Joseph's orphanage on Mount Street, badly damaged by fire
• The former Post Office on Preston's historic Flag market
• The Georgian home of prominent suffragette, Edith Rigby and her husband Charles on Winckley Square
• The Tithebarn Pub, empty since 2016

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to [email protected] and via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.