A TAPESTRY which took five years to make cannot be displayed because the former guardians broke the casings, trust members have claimed. The Millennium Embroideries, which depicts 1,000 years in Harwich, was removed from the walls of Harwich International Port earlier this year.

The 30 foot display of 15 tapestries, worth £10,000, which took ten people to build were previously on show to welcome tourists to the town.

But the hangings were taken down during refurbishments and the casing has been damaged meaning that the Harwich and Dovercourt High School, who wanted to re-home the spectacular work, are unable to. The trust claim the port has only offered to pay part of the costs to replace them.

Spokesman for the Harwich and Dovercourt Embroideries Trust, who created the tapestry, Christine Britton said: “The Port has refurbished the terminal and had taken the hangings down and put them in storage, however they had not informed us of this fact until we made enquiries as people had been asking where the hangings were.

“They also told us the hangings would be replaced once the refurbishment was complete, but this has not been the case and we have now been told they will not be put back.

“Harwich & Dovercourt High School have now offered to re-home the hangings, however when we went to get them the casings had been broken and need to be replaced.

“We need the Port to pay in full for these replacements, but they are only offering to pay some of the cost."

Hutchinson Port were unavailable for comment.