Councils in wrangle over Henry Pooley Gates

A battle over the future of a pair of historic gates based in the Black Country was looming today - following an official bid to take them back to Liverpool.

The ornate Henry Pooley Gates were made in Liverpool and adorned the entry to the city's sailors' home in the 1800s.

They are believed to feature the oldest example of the Liver Birds motif. But for the past 70 years they have guarded Smethwick's Avery Berkel factory.

They are currently being restored by Wolverhampton firm Barr & Grosvenor and have become a much loved feature.

Now Sandwell and Liverpool Councils are involved in a wrangle over who should own them.

Bosses at Liverpool City Council say they are now in talks with Avery to buy back the gates and have just submitted a planning application to move them back from their current home to a park site in Liverpool city centre.

But in Sandwell, campaigners say the gates must stay in the Black Country.

Soho and Victoria ward Councillor Roger Horton said: "They are here now and they have been here for some time. We are very protective of our heritage here in Smethwick, and these gates have become part of our heritage.

"If they mean so much to Liverpool why did they let them leave so readily?"

The gates were originally cast in Liverpool by local firm Henry Pooley & Sons in 1840 but had to be removed in the late 1940s due to war damage.

Henry Pooley & Sons later merged with Avery and the gates were offered to the firm, which is based at Soho Foundry, Foundry Road.

Bosses at Liverpool City Council say they have £30,000 set aside to buy them back. A campaign by Liverpool residents was briefly under way last year but fell flat when just seven people from Merseyside wrote to Sandwell Council asking for them to return.