St George's Circus protected

St George's Circus could become a conservation area following the listing of the Georgian buildings last month.

The surprise move by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport follows protests from residents and historians over a plan by South Bank University to replace the historic buildings in London Road with a �40m leisure centre and lecture hall.

In addition to listing the buildings as Grade II, the Department has upgraded the landmark obelisk which was recently returned to its original site in the centre of the circus.

However, the listing does not include Rotary Street's Sunday School dating from 1837 and now used as a recording studio.

University Vice-Chancellor Gerald Bernbaum claimed that both the staff and students were disappointed by the ruling which the University described as "a poor decision".