THE company behind a dilapidated building in a Herefordshire town has been blasted by a businessman who is having to deal with the effects.

Tim Allen, who is the postmaster for Kington, said the town centre building is a blight on the landscape, with two prime retail units left in disrepair by "slum landlord" Stonewater.

He said flats upstairs were also in a poor condition, with part of the building's external alley wall collapsing.

Owned by the housing association, number two High Street (Lower Cross) was discussed at length at January's full meeting of Kington Town Council and he said the building was just not being maintained.

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Mr Allen said the situation was heart-breaking for his wife who was forced to close RidgeBank Contemporary Arts Space as water was getting into the room from the poorly-maintained building next door.

He had spent four years and a lot of money in restoring the old HSBC bank, but walls were now having to come back down again due to the water ingress.

Ward councillor Terry James said he had been inside the flats upstairs and they were poor, with Mr Allen saying Stonewater had the money to be responsible and look after the building.

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The council decided to write to the chief executive of Stonewater and invite the firm to the next council meeting to set out what actions are being taken to address the deterioration of the building.

After the meeting, Mr Allen said the building does have some scaffolding up at the moment which he understood to be for roof repairs.

"Notwithstanding the conditions the residents of this building are living in the abandonment of the two prominent retail spaces on the ground floor are a blight on our streetscape after the general efforts of nearly all of the local retailers took advantage of the town council’s 2022 shop front grant restoration scheme to bring colour and hope to our town centre while the corporate body, Stonewater, simply ignores its own impact," he said.