THE future of Bewsey Old Hall could be on the road to being secured.

Developer Urban Splash is understood to have submitted its plans for the historic hall, which is in a state of decline.

The development company was awarded the contract for the site by English Partnerships.

Bewsey Old Hall Conservation Project, which had raised £800,000 in a failed bid to keep the Jacobean Grade II listed hall and ancient monument site in the public domain, has cautiously welcomed the news.

Pat Pointer, secretary of the project, said they were disappointed that there would be no public access to the site and that early proposals showed houses will be built outside and sold to pay for the upkeep of the hall.

She added: "The very least we hope for with the plans is that they preserve the inside of the hall.

"There are a couple of walls with historic paintings on and we hope these would be preserved.

"The nightmare situation would be luxury apartments that destroy the fabric of the interior.

"But we do believe that Urban Splash, because they have got such a good track record, are the right people to do it."