AN angry Ulverston resident has made a stand in a bid to protect his beloved town from losing its identity. 

Paul Holmes has spoken out in an effort to preserve the traditional image of his town while a new flood defence is built outside his house. 

Mr Holmes, who lives in The Gill area of the town, has objected to the aesthetic of the defence which he claims is not in keeping with the historic image of the town. 

He said: "My main concern at the moment is that the new flood defence, which is being built at the moment, is not made to look like dry stone walling. 

"What people are forgetting is that it's the start of the Cumbrian Way – it's not just some back street. It's the main heart of town."

Mr Holmes is hugely proud of his town but feels more needs to be done to protect its heritage and preserve its identity as a traditional Lakeland market town. 

He said: "It's extremely important. To me conservation is key – particularly in this part of town. 

"It's not going to stay a conservation area if no-one is adhering to the rules.

"We need to keep this part of town old and make sure it's in keeping with conservation orders."

Mr Holmes has called on a number of councillors to come and take a look at the wall in the hopes of making some sort of improvement. 

Councillor Helen Irving went to see the wall and said: "It's not in keeping with the town and it's the start of the Cumbrian Way.

"It needs proper stone walling on the outside but it's just concrete panels and it's too modern for a conservation area. 

"Ulverston is a special town and always will be and it deserves to have put back what was there."

Mr Holmes added: "I want to see it taken down and done properly. They wouldn't put up with this in Kendal. 

"I feel that the majority of people will see it and say it's not right and that something needs to be done. 

"If not, we're going to lose that sense of history and we're going to lose the sense of the town."

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