Local community campaigner Emily Orchard and Stantonbury Labour ward councillors have called on supermarket giant Aldi to work with the community save a special piece of Milton Keynes history.

Stantonbury School was famous for the unique way in which pupils were taught, achieving lasting fame for teaching arts and culture. At the height of the school’s success in 1978 pupils created a large ceramic tile artwork in the heart of the then new community on the side of a building at the local centre.

Over time the local centre has become less well used and now a new development to revive the area is threatening the artwork. This has led ex-Stantonbury pupil and community campaigner Emily Orchard to call on discount supermarket chain Aldi to work with the local community to save the artwork, after local Labour councillors intervened to ensure the planning application didn’t slip through the system with the artwork being lost.

Aldi have responded to the calls, but the local community are concerned that they have given no firm commitment to save the mural.

Emily Orchard said: “As an ex-Stantonbury pupil myself I know this artwork means a lot to ex-pupils and is a special little bit of Milton Keynes history. I know our local Labour councillors and the community are working to save this unique piece of art, and I’m calling on Aldi to ensure it is saved.”