A campaign has been launched to stop Salford City Council from demolishing a ‘rare and beautifully crafted’ post-war mural.

Bulldozers have already begun work on the former school site that houses ‘The Five Joyful Mysteries of the Virgin’s Rosary’, created by Hungarian artist George Mayer-Marton.

Heritage groups, including SAVE Britain’s Heritage and the Twentieth Century Society, have called on Historic England to list the artwork and protect it from destruction.

Cllr Hannah Robinson-Smith, lead member for Culture, Heritage, Equalities, Sports and Leisure, said the council was not dismissing the mural’s significance but highlighted that preserving it would cost £400,000.

She added that the council had received £1.6m from the Brownfield Land Release Fund, which would be lost if the demolition did not go ahead. Henrietta Billings, director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, described the mural as a ‘rare and beautifully crafted’ artwork.

‘According to a recent conservator’s report, it appears to remain intact under a layer of modern plaster and is recoverable,’ she said.

‘We are backing calls for its urgent protection and national recognition through listing. It needs a secure future and a new home so that its powerful artistry can be revealed and enjoyed for years to come.’

Cllr Robinson-Smith said that no one can say ‘with 100% certainty’ that the whole of the mural is intact and therefore salvageable.

‘There are substantial costs involved in attempting to save the mural. Estimates of around £400,000 would be needed to remove the wall and currently hidden mural and that is before additional restoration costs are factored in and costs involved in finding a new home for the wall, which to date has not been identified,’ she said.

‘Unfortunately, no one to date has been able to provide the funds to cover these costs and any sort of campaign to raise funds would not be possible in the time frame we are working to for the demolition work.’