THE owners of a long section of a wall in danger of collapsing onto a pavement are applying for permission to knock it down and rebuild it.

The wall along South Road, Taunton, is leaning so badly that insurers are refusing to provide cover in respect of it "failing and causing death, injury or damage".

So Woodards Taunton Estate Management Ltd, the owners of the 100-year-old boundary and retaining wall at Annecy Court, at St Joseph's Field, want to replace the tallest 32-metre section.

A statement with a planning application to Taunton Deane Borough Council says: "The wall has clearly been developing an outward lean, towards the pavement and South Road, for a period of many years.

"The lean is now such that the stability of the wall is compromised and there is a fear of collapse."

Another part of the wall has been rebuilt within the last 20 years and the statement adds: "It is perhaps regrettable that the whole length of wall was not attended to at that time, but the costs of such reconstruction are very high and funds were presumably limited, and the condition of the wall was probably not so bad at that time."

Because the wall forms part of a listed building, efforts will be made to reclaim and reuse most of the bricks, although some will need to be replaced as they are damaged