A study  into repairing one of Marlow’s key landmarks will go ahead after funding was agreed.

Marlow Town Council last night voted to begin investigating repairs on the grade II listed obelisk on the High Street, with the Marlow Society stumping up half of the £750 cost.

The Georgian waypoint marker will now undergo tests to determine how much it will cost to restore it to its former glory.

The Marlow Society has been lobbying Bucks County Council since 2012 to carry the out much-needed repairs, with chairman Martin Blunkell blasting the "abject failure" to preserve the stone monolith.

He said: "We have been campaigning for a long while on this, and BCC has failed conspicuously to protect it.

"When we realised there was a chance to restore it we looked again at our constitution, which allows us to make small investments which will be a help to the town and we’re happy to do it.

“It’s all about supporting the town’s heritage.

"It is an initial gesture, and hopefully a wake up call that the county can’t continue to ignore it."

The county council has said no funding is available as "the condition of the obelisk does not pose a safety hazard".

Once the survey is carried out, a detailed bid will be made to the Heritage Lottery Fund to finance the repairs.

Councillors estimate the cost of the work - including repairing the south facing side of the large stone where the lettering has fallen away - will be as much as £10,000.

Cllr Neil Marshall described the study - to be funded from the council’s Town Improvement Fund - as a "reasonable and worthwhile investment".

And Cllr Roger Wilson thanked the Marlow Society for their "extremely generous" contribution.

However, members at this week’s town council meeting said there was no guarantee the bid would be accepted.

The obelisk, which sits in the centre of the roundabout at the top of the High Street, was part of a turnpike route between Hatfield, Wycombe, Marlow and Bath and installed in 1822.

The journey was made by travellers who wanted to take the benefit of the spa waters in Bath and became known as the ‘Gout Route’.