The cemetery is said to be an important part of Bristol's history

Bristol City council has paid a start-up deposit of �250,000 into an endowment fund on behalf of Arnos Vale Cemetery Trust.

A fundraising campaign to be launched later this year will aim to build the endowment fund to �3m by 2008.

Money in the fund would be invested and the earnings used year after year towards the maintenance and management costs of the site, said a council spokesman.

Bristol's Lord Mayor, councillor Bill Martin said: "Arnos Vale cemetery is a very important part of the city's social history and a valuable wildlife habitat.

"Once we have gained ownership of the site, this endowment fund will help the Trust to start to safeguard the future of the cemetery."

The endowment fund will ensure that we can begin to tackle the decline of important buildings Richard Smith

Helen Moss, of the Greater Bristol Foundation which will manage the fund, said: "This arrangement demonstrates how the community foundation has an important role to play in protecting the city's heritage."

"This is yet another landmark in our long campaign to save the cemetery," said Richard Smith of the Friends of Arnos Vale cemetery.

"The endowment fund will ensure that we can begin to tackle the decline of important buildings and give the cemetery the care and attention it deserves."

The cemetery's future was secured in May when the council won a long-running legal battle to save it.

Arnos Vale's owners sparked controversy in 2001 when they announced plans to sell the south Bristol site for development.