HOPES of resurrecting a café on top of the Worcestershire Beacon are seemingly never far from the minds of people in Malvern.

Starting out relatively low key – many have questioned just how official it was in its early days and whether it should actually have been there at all – the café grew to become a cherished facility and stood proudly for many decades on top of the hills, providing welcome relief for thousands of thirsty walkers.

But that all came to an abrupt end when the café dramatically burned to the ground in 1989.

Although Malvern Hills Conservators were keen to rebuild the café at the time, the project was blocked by the House of Lords when members of its select committee visited the town and ruled that it already had enough similar facilities.

Almost a quarter of a century on, Conservators director Stephen Bound explained why restoring a café on top of the Beacon is not on the agenda.

“Our duties are to protect the natural assets of the Malvern Hills and keep them open for the public,” he said.

“They are not to provide facilities in that sort of way.

Even if it was something we were to take a look at, I don’t think our powers would allow us to spend money in that way.”

Another factor the Conservators are duty-bound to consider is the Malvern Hills’ status as a Site of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI).

“You have to ask whether a café right in the middle of that site would be appropriate,” said Mr Bound. “It would obviously bring a lot more concentrated numbers of visitors on to one particular site, bring more rubbish and a need for more bins and put great pressure on the habitat there.

“It would change the entire nature of the area if we started down that line.”

Mr Bound is also of the opinion – as the House of Lords was when it made its ruling back in the 1990s – that there are enough similar facilities already on the hills, not to mention countless more in the town itself.

“You have the Kettle Sings, St Ann’s Well, the kiosk at Gullet Quarry and various offerings at British Camp to name just a few,” he said.

“Plus there are a huge number in the town itself. I think that the vision of Route to the Hills (an ongoing project aimed at establishing better links for visitors between the hills and town centre) is the right direction to be going in.”

Mr Bound is also acutely aware that, given the precedent set by the previous House of Lords ruling, any bid to re-open the café would constitute an “expensive gamble” with public money.

“In legal terms nothing has changed and we would still need an Act of Parliament to allow us the power to re-build the café,”

he said. “The cost would run into hundreds of thousands of pounds, a cost that would need to be met by the Conservators, and with no guarantee that consent would be granted.”

Chris Marks, chairman of Great Malvern Association of Traders, believes restoring a café on the Beacon would be a popular move with walkers on the hills, but is not certain how much the impact would be felt in the town itself.

“It’s difficult to judge but I’m not sure if it would have too much of a bearing either way,”

he said. “The hills are far and away Malvern’s biggest tourism asset, with the number who come to walk here running into millions each year.

“If something were to happen there I think it would naturally link in to the work being done with Route to the Hills.

Malvern’s MP Harriett Baldwin believes a new café on the Beacon could prove a big pull and urged the Conservators not to dismiss the idea – suggesting another party could perhaps be brought in to head up the project.

“I am sure lots of walkers on the hills would appreciate a replacement for the café at the summit,” she said. “If someone is offering to establish one, I hope the Conservators will consider the idea seriously.”

However, Mr Bound said granting responsibility to another party would throw up the same legal and financial obstacles.