Shropshire Olympic tourism handed 拢150,000 award

Image caption, The mascot for the 2012 Olympic Games has been named after Much Wenlock

Shropshire has been awarded 拢150,000 to help develop links with the 2012 Olympics in London.

Shropshire Council successfully bid for the Rural Development Programme funding, part of which will pay for an "iconic feature" on Gaskell Field in Much Wenlock.

The modern Olympic movement was inspired in part by the Much Wenlock games, founded in 1850.

The council said it hoped to use the Games to encourage tourism.

There are also plans to film parts of Much Wenlock and the surrounding area to provide broadcasters around the world with stock footage.

Tim King, from the council, described the 2012 Games as a, "once in a lifetime opportunity for us to promote the Olympic heritage, and the roots of the modern Olympics are here in Shropshire".