AN important piece of Burnley's future heritage is set to be saved.

Council chiefs have accepted a businessman's offer to safeguard the frieze at the entrance to the Thompson Centre.

Andrew Brown, who owns Crow Wood Leisure, will now arrange for the artwork to be stored while efforts are made to find it a new home.

Coun Peter Doyle, the executive member in charge of resources, said: "We received an offer for the removal and safe storage of the frieze and, as a proactive authority, we were happy to take up that offer."

However the deal has to be agreed by the end of October to allow demolition work on the Thompson Centre to begin in early November. If no agreement is reached by October 31 the frieze will be demolished along the rest of the building.

Under the agreement the businessman will pay the council an undisclosed amount to cover the cost of removing the dozen panels that make up the frieze.

Mr Brown will store the frieze for up to two years, during which time the council will work with him to try and find another public site to house it.

If a site is not found within two years the businessman is free to keep the frieze or dispose of it."

Coun Doyle added: "This agreement means that the council can work with Mr Brown to try and find an alternative home for the frieze. If we can save it for the people of Burnley then we will.

"We have had to make our decision on the frieze's future working within our limited budget."

The council has looked into the possibility of removing the frieze and rehousing it elsewhere.

A number of possible locations, including Thompson Park, were investigated. However the cost of relocating the frieze would be around £100,000.

The other option was to retain the part of the wall incorporating the frieze on its current site, which would cost around £20,000.

However, it would only be a temporary measure and there were concerns over how the wall would appear and the impact it would have on future redevelopment of the Thompson Centre site.