SUPPORTERS of plans to create a cable car on the Malvern Hills are planning to talk to the Conservators about the project.

Last month High Street Malvern unveiled ambitious plans for a £5 million cable car, linking the town centre with the Worcestershire Beacon, as a "silver bullet" boost for the local economy.

Roger Sutton of High Street Malvern said: "We've been talking to the town council and the district council, and now it's time to talk to the Conservators. We're extending an invitation for them to come and talk to us and we hope they do.

"We know there's a view that the Conservators won't allow it because it's a development on the hills, but there's another view that they have to maximise access, and a cable car would certainly give elderly and disabled people better access."

But this week Conservators' director Steve Bound said he could not see how a cable car could be erected without a new Act of Parliament.

He said: "Under the existing acts, the Conservators have a legal duty to prevent building on the hills, and a cable car would involve erecting pylons to carry the cable, plus a station. "We've not specifically sought legal advice on this, but my understanding is that a new act would be needed to allow this. We will be happy to listen to the cable car proposers, but I think they need to be aware of this."

At the annual town meeting, resident Martin Burd criticised Malvern Town Council for setting up a working party to look into the proposal.

He said: "I would suggest that all aspects of this project should cease forthwith. The council has better things to do with its time than wasting it on this lost cause."

But Cllr Mike Charles, a member of the working party, said: "The town council has a duty to the people of the town to make the town progress. At the moment, as Churchill said, it's a graveyard with a bus running through it."