A Chilterns landmark visible from Thame and surrounding villages is in danger of being lost.

Restoring the Whiteleaf Cross will cost more than £500,000 and work must start soon, but the results of the Lottery application by Buckinghamshire County Council will not be known until the autumn.

The 200-foot cross cut in the chalk above Princes Risborough and Whiteleaf can be seen for many miles.

The restoration of the cross is part of a scheme that includes excavating two Bronze Age barrows, a prehistoric land boundary and practice trenches from the First World War.

Grants from landfill tax, Risborough Town Council and countryside group and money from individuals will be used to restore the area, which includes a nature reserve.

County conservation officer Julia Carey said the cross was too important to abandon, but the gradual deterioration had meant a loss of a lot of the chalk.

A full-scale plan for the project will be drawn up later this year to include better public access, improving the chalk grassland, stabilising the cross and producing leaflets, tourist panels and a book.