Work to restore a historic, crumbling relic in Marlow is set to take place from next week.

The crumbling Grade-II listed obelisk, at the top of the High Street, will be given a £20,000 makeover from the week commencing August 28 – just after the bank holiday – after it was repeatedly postponed amid fears it could cause chaos for drivers in the town centre.

Transport for Bucks (TfB) was also looking at taking the obelisk off site for the repairs, but it then said the work would be carried out on site with temporary traffic lights and weekday overnight closures of the road between 8pm and 5am.

Additional drainage work will also be carried out around the bottom of the Obelisk to stop the ingress of water which TfB says is speeding up the deterioration.

The work will take up to four weeks to complete.

Bucks County Council's deputy leader and cabinet member for transportation, Mark Shaw, supported the decision to postpone the work, saying: “TfB remains dedicated to completing the restoration of the obelisk in the shortest time possible and with the least disruption to the local area.

“Overnight working during the summer months is our best option.”

The historic structure was erected in 1822 as a waypoint marker for travelling coaches and has fallen into disrepair in recent years, with whole sections of stone lettering having crumbled and broken away.

After years of campaigning from The Marlow Society and councillors, BCC finally agreed to carry out the necessary repair work to the landmark last year.