FOUR canal conservation areas on the Stourbridge and Dudley canals are a step closer after Dudley Council planners approved the publication of the finalised report.

Following extensive public consultation, less than one per cent of the respondents opposed the proposals with the vast majority in support of the plans.

The four identified conservation locations are Brierley Hill's Delph Locks, Wordsley's Stourbridge Sixteen Locks, Stourbridge Branch Canal in Amblecote and Canal Street.

The committee unanimously approved for the conservation area character appraisals and management proposals to be finalised.