The future of Bristol's landmark Cabot Tower looks secure – after English Heritage "verbally agreed" to pay £250,000 towards repairs.

It means work can now go ahead before the 334ft-high building on Brandon Hill is reopened to the public.

But the boss leading the £400,000 restoration project was unable to confirm when work would be finished, insisting it be carried out "delicately, slowly and properly".

The Evening Post was shown around the grade II-listed tower yesterday by Bristol City Council and our photographs illustrate exactly why it has been closed to the public for the past two-and-a-half years.

For the first time, we can reveal the extent of the damage which has been caused to the lower and upper viewing galleries.

Deep cracks have developed on all four sides of the galleries, caused by corroding metalwork installed when the tower was built 113 years ago to commemorate the transatlantic journey of John Cabot.

Engineering experts say new stainless steel rods need to be fixed to the viewing platforms, cracked stonework replaced and corroding metalwork removed to make the tower safe again.

Earlier this week, scaffolders began rigging up scaffolding around the bottom of the tower to form a barrier which will keep vandals away and protect pedestrians from falling masonry.

Scaffolding will eventually reach to the top of the tower and the viewing platforms will be fully examined before repair work goes ahead.

Alun Owen, manager of the Cabot Tower restoration project and the city council's head of major projects, said the grant from English Heritage had been "verbally agreed".

Bristol City Council has already earmarked £100,000 for the work and the remaining £50,000 will come from other grants.

Mr Owen said unsuccessful attempts to repair the tower had been made in the past, when metal staples were used to try to close the cracks.

He said: "We need to make sure that what we do is the proper job and it will never need to be done again.

"It needs to be done delicately, slowly and properly. English Heritage is the lead funder and we have to work to its rules and regulations. It will dictate the pace and when we carry out the work.

"It will take as long as it takes to do the proper job and make it available for the next 100 years. No one would be happy to do a cosmetic job without understanding what the problem is.

"It will be some months before it is open to the public but it will be a job everybody is pleased with and I've no doubt people will flock up here again to enjoy the view."

Last month, the Post launched its Save Our Tower campaign, while more than 10,000 people have joined the Save Cabot Tower group on social networking website Facebook.

Just days after the Post became involved, the council agreed to remove the graffiti and send out a structural engineer to assess the tower.

The campaign has been backed by MPs, community group Friends of Brandon Hill, the head of the Conservation Advisory Panel and party group leaders at Bristol City Council.

English Heritage is due to make a formal decision on the funding bid at the end of this month.