Repair works on a collapsed section of Chester City Walls could finally be happening this month.

A section of the walls between St John Street and Newgate Street, near the Eastgate Clock, collapsed in January 2020. Cheshire West and Chester Council put a temporary walkway and scaffolding in place, but for the past four and a half years, repair works have not taken place.

That was due to an impasse between the local authority and owners of the site where the wall collapsed. Access to the site has been difficult due to it being landlocked.

In recent weeks, however, progress has been made, with utility workers able to gain access to the site grounds and clear away 8ft-tall vegetation following years of weed growth.

Now the council is poised to begin repair works proper on the Grade I/II*-listed walls.

A spokesperson for Cheshire West and Chester Council said: "Enabling works, including vegetation removal, have been carried out.

"A works programme is expected later this month subject to appropriate legal agreements being in place. The details will then be added to the City Walls website."

The repair works have been included in CWaC's budget, with a one-off £3.196 million sum set aside for "essential works to the collapsed section of the walls...with this phase of work due to commence in September '24."

The financial report to the council's Cabinet added: "Funding is currently held within Schemes Under development and will be subjected to a delegated decision."

In January this year, the local authority had added legal action was being considered to recover costs from a third party over possible grounds of negligence that led to the collapse.

At the time, a spokesperson for the local authority said: "The council began a legal process to seek recovery of costs from those third parties who are believed to be responsible for the collapse, letters of claim have been issued. The prospective defendants deny wrongdoing."

The local authority has spent more than £6.1 million over the past 10 years on the upkeep and repair of the city walls. All changes to the wall, including maintenance and repair work, need Scheduled Monument Consent from the Secretary of State.

About three million visitors use the walls each year, it is estimated.