AN 18-month wrangle over the crumbling remains of an castle could finally be coming to an end.

Neville Castle in Kirkbymoorside dates back to medieval times and now little is left apart from the barest of ruins.

Most of the remains are in private gardens but one wall stands on land owned by the town council and is now suffering badly from the combined effects of centuries of wind and rain. Complaints have been received of stones falling from it and signs have been put up warning the public of the danger.

The wall measures only about four metres high and three metres wide but is a scheduled ancient monument and is listed on English Heritage's Buildings at Risk register.

However, the repairs needed would cost in the region of £4,000 and the town council, as the owner, is responsible for the work being carried out.

The town council has made a number of approaches to English Heritage over the matter and claimed the agency had been dragging its feet over plans to make the monument safe again.

However, an application has now gone in for 40 per cent grant aid towards the scheme, which could include lowering the height of the wall by up to one third.

Town clerk Bob Horne said the long wrangle had been driving them to despair but now things seemed to be happening at last - although they are still waiting for a list of English Heritage-approved build-ers who could do the work.

"No one could ever call the wall a tourist attraction and it really is of no great historical value other than it is very old," he said.

English Heritage's York-based inspector of ancient monuments, Keith Emerick, said they would now be processing the grant application as soon as possible.

"The site is owned by the town council so the maintenance is their responsibility. They originally wanted us to pay the whole amount but that is not our remit," he said.

l Although called a castle, the ruins are actually those of a hunting lodge used by the Nevilles of Northumberland in the 1400s.