A CHARITY dedicated to restoring historical buildings is determined to buy the Assize Courts in Devizes.

Wiltshire Historic Buildings Trust wants to persuade developers who own the listed building that it should sell it to allow restoration to take place.

Trust architect Colin Johns said: "The building has been allowed to rot for many years and it will take a lot of money to bring it back to life. It would not be possible for this to happen unless we can buy the building at a reasonable price.

"Once we owned the building we would be able to apply for a number of grants that would not be available to a commercial organisation."

He said that over the years the building had decayed more and more and much of its original splendour had been destroyed. But he still believes that under expert hands it could be brought back to life and have a new role as a community building or for housing.

It is understood that in the the past Bahamas based owner Kamarran Mahmoud and his agents Gatewell had been offered £350,000 for the building but turned it down. It is estimated that millions of pounds would have to be spent to restore it.

But now the Wiltshire Historic Buildings Trust has made a first move to secure the future of the courts by buying the former Ralph Merrett Motor Engineers at Lower Wharf. Mr Johns said: "We would not be wasting trust money buying this site if we did not think we had the chance to buy the assize courts as well.

"We want the people of Devizes to get behind this and help us to push this forward. This is a very important building at a gateway to the town. This is a huge opportunity and mustn't be wasted."

He has the backing to two other influential members of the trust in the shape of Bowood house oner Lord Lansdowne, Sir Hayden Phillips and George McDonic.

The assize court building has been put back in the spotlight as the original planning permission granted to Mr Mahmoud was reaching its expiry date and a renewal has been applied for.

Devizes Town Council was upset that its hands were tied as it was unable to put any pressure on the owners to get on with the development. Earlier this month deputy town clerk Simon Fisher said: "We are desperate for one of two things to happen. Either for the owner to get on and redevelop the site himself of for him to sell it on to someone else who will do the work."

The Wiltshire Historic Building Trust, which has been in existence for 40 years, has an excellent track record of restoring buildings. It says on its website: "The Trust has undertaken a number of projects both large and small and in all cases preserving the architectural and historic interest of the buildings is a prime consideration. The completed buildings are then made available for sale so that the Trust can recoup its costs and move on to a new project."