CROWDS of people have been flocking to an exhibition organised by Cheshire County Council to explain their plans for historic Welsh Row.

The exhibition, which was only due to last a day, has been extended to two weeks to cope with demand.

County officials are claiming a success, saying that everyone who has been to look at their plans have left feeling happier about the future of the historic entrance to the town.

County council spokesman, Ian Callister, said: "We have had a good response and there has been a great deal of local interest.

"I think people have appreciated the chance to talk to officers about the plan itself. And we have certainly appreciated the opportunity to talk to the people of Nantwich.

"We feel this scheme has been subject to a certain amount of misunderstanding.

"I think there was a misconception that we were going to close the whole of Welsh Row. People have been able to see that the proposal is anything but that."

But Nantwich Town Council Chairman, Bill McGinnis, said that the exhibition was not offering townspeople anything new.

"This exhition is no different to the original drawings we were shown last year, apart from the inclusion of a few pretty drawings," he said.

"Our basic objections remain the same. I am still interested to learn how it is considered safer for a driver to make two turns and cross over the entrance and exit to a car park than it is for them to drive straight down a two way street."

He said that the exhibition had been extended due to pressure from the town council, as they felt that the people of Nantwich had not been given enough notice of its arrival.

"I was there on that first day, and the people I saw attending were certainly not happier coming out than they were going in," he added.

"It is by means of this kind of manoeuvre that eventually the heritage of ancient towns like Nantwich is destroyed."

The exhibition is set to continue at Nantwich library until this Friday, February 6.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.