A FINAL bid has been launched to save the former pithead baths on the site of the Princess Royal Colliery, near Bream.

Built from bricks made from clay won from beneath the Trenchard coal seam, the building is said to be unique and of architectural and social significance to Forest history.

The baths are due to be demolished in February as part of a plan to "regenerate" the site.

But they could be saved if a businessman came up with a scheme to renovate the building which kept the exterior intact.

"It's probably our last chance," said Avril Kear, chairman of the Forest of Dean Local History Society.

Mrs Kear is urging the Regional Development Agency to reconsider the demolition plan until a further assessment is made.

Mrs Kear told the Review: "If it is at all possible that the RDA could integrate the building into their development this would of course solve the problem and make everyone happy, but I do understand that the structure of the building may mean that this is now no longer possible.

"The Forest of Dean has lost too many landmark buildings over the last 40 years and we must make sure that those that still survive are around after the next 40."

The baths were erected in 1939 by W.M. Taylor for the Miners' Welfare Committee.

The History Society says the building is the last of its type in the Forest and portrayed an important part of 20th century mining history.

Support for the retention of the building has been steadily growing and in the recently published Pevsner guide to the Buildings of England it is stated: "If that building goes you will lose a huge amount of the Forest's heritage."

Support has come from a number of other sources, including Mr Christopher Partrick, of Leyburn, North Yorkshire, who argues the design and construction of the building makes it flexible and adaptable to any number of uses.

"I would urge the SWDA to demonstrate its commitment to the development of the Forest of Dean by reprieving the Princess Royal baths and finding an alternative use. That would be truly sustainable, brownfield regeneration," he writes.