The Wrekin boasts a 1,334ft high peak

Shropshire Wildlife Trust and the former owners of the Forest Glen site, Whitehouse Hotels, exchanged contracts on Friday.

Wrekin MP Peter Bradley says it could be used for car parking, toilets and to provide guidance for visitors.

Telford and Wrekin Borough Council is to manage the site which is just under an acre at the bottom of the hill.

The Shropshire Horticultural Society has contributed �50,000 towards the wildlife trust's acquisition of the site.

Site 'crucial'

A consortium led by the trust has been putting together another bid to buy part of The Wrekin, which covers 126 acres and boasts a 1,334ft high peak.

It was put up for sale for �500,000 by landowner Peter Holt in June last year.

Mr Bradley, who chairs the Wrekin Bid Group, said: "The Forest Glen is tremendously important for those who remember it in its heyday but the site it occupied is also crucial today.

"In many ways it holds the key to the future because it's the only land around the Wrekin and Ercall hills on which any kind of acceptable development could take place."

Colin Preston, director of Shropshire Wildlife Trust, said: "We'll be looking to clean up the site and make it more presentable.

"We've been overwhelmed by the support we've had from the public since the Bid Group first came together in July and it's great to be able to reward people's faith in this way."