The original office of Lord Herbert Austin, the founder of car manufacturing in Longbridge, has been stripped from its home at the former MG UK factory.
The much valued local heritage asset – including original fixtures, fittings and content – has reportedly been moved to the British Motor Museum at Gaydon.
A petition to keep the office in Longbridge, set up by Pride of Longbridge’s Gemma Cartwright MBE in January, gained 1400 signatures.
Mrs Cartwright told the Bromsgrove Standard: “We have had plenty of support from St Modwen – they have been brilliant and we expect the same support from MG when it comes to Longbridge’s heritage.
“So much time and effort has been spent in restoring the office and maintaining it – it doesn’t make sense.
“Longbridge was where Lord Austin chose to build his empire from so it should have remained here.
“You wouldn’t ever get anyone ripping Cadbury’s out of Bournville and this is the same principle.”
Gary Sambrook MP (Cons, Birmingham Northfield) responded to the move. He said: “This is incredibly sad news. This office is an important piece of our local history and it should have remained at the centre of Longbridge.
“We are currently seeing the largest regeneration of Longbridge in a lifetime and it would have only been right for this office to have remained here, while we shape our future, with a careful eye on the past.”
With it’s original location on the Longbridge site being demolished in the late 1950’s, Lord Austin’s original office was dismantled and reassembled in the South Engineering Block. It remained there for 50 years until being relocated to the Conference Centre in 2003 as part of the site archive.