SEVERN Valley Railway landmarks are to receive extra protection after the council approved a Local Heritage List for the popular Kidderminster attraction.

A list of 50 ‘heritage assets’ ranging from Kidderminster Town Station buildings to bridges at Hoo Road and Devil’s Spittleful, both in the town, have had their future secured.

Also on the list is Bewdley Tunnel – which is the longest on the 16-mile line – and a Victorian cast iron gents urinal which was relocated from Melrose in Scotland in 1977.

The landmarks have been safeguarded as part of future council plans and policies after a six-week public consultation between Bewdley Town Council, conservation officers and the community.

Wyre Forest District Council conservation officer, Peter Bassett, said: "The Local Heritage List plays an important role in celebrating heritage that is valued by the community at the local level.

"It is also an opportunity for local authorities and communities to work in partnership to jointly identify heritage assets that are valued as distinctive elements of the local historic environment.

"Where planning permission is being considered, the fact that a heritage asset appears on the Local Heritage List is a valid consideration when determining the outcome of that application."

A ‘heritage asset’ can be any building, monument, site, place, area or landscape which is considered to be a valued component of the historic environment.