TOWN hall chiefs are hoping to find funds to preserve a little piece of Hyndburn's heritage.

The seat of the village stocks at Higher Gate, Huncoat, is in desperate need of repair after going rotten.

But funding for the council's "Facelift" environmental improvement scheme has dried up, leaving bosses to seek cash from alternative sources.

A spokeswoman explained: "We restored the stocks two years ago and not long afterwards found the seat had collapsed.

"We asked English Heritage for advice and they suggested making a report on how best to restore the seat, which must have been there for more than two centuries.

"But we will have to explore other sources of funding because there is no Facelift budget this year."

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