Vale Royal needs to find £16 million to pay for two huge salt mines to be filled - and end a ban on major town centre development.

In a letter to Northwich MP Mike Hall, Vale Royal's chief executive Bill Woods said the council was confident English Partnerships would help fund the £16 million scheme - even if they wanted the money back after the mines were filled.

He wrote: "We still believe they will (with government assistance) be prepared to enter into a partnership with ourselves, the landowners and developers and be prepared to gap fund a scheme which is otherwise viable, generates employment and improves the environment."

Mr Woods was replying to a letter Mr Hall wrote on behalf of the Northwich Retail Group.

In it he also denied speculation that homes in certain parts of Northwich could sink into the ground.

And Mr Woods rejected comments from some businessmen that Vale Royal had kept them in the dark about the extent of the problem.

He was due to meet with local businessmen yesterday, Tuesday, armed with the news that the only thing standing in the way of work to fill the mines was lack of cash.

A report presented to the Northwich Town Centre Working Group on Monday confirmed council hopes that lime waste can be used to fill the mines and it is possible that it can be pumped to the site.

"We wanted to find an environmentally friendly and cost-effective solution to the problem which we appear to have done," said Mr Wood.

"We are now as sure as we can be what the condition of the mines is although once we start the work it will be a miracle if we don't find things like air pockets."

The size of the problem was first announced in 1994 when Vale Royal revealed the risks posed by two large, abandoned mines at Baron's Quay and Witton Bank.

Council officers banned major development in the town centre and pinned their hopes on getting the cash to solve the problem from English Partnerships.

They announced last year that Vale Royal had made no firm bid for the grant - but did agree to spend £250,000 on filling an air pocket at Baron's Quay with brine.

Since then, the council has worked hard to persuade business and shop owners to help fund further investigations into the mines.

Now Vale Royal is hopeful of securing a mixture of private funding and government cash to get the work started as soon as possible.

"I shall be disappointed if we haven't got something together within 12 months," added Mr Woods.

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