Campaigners have won a planning permission which will bring back a historic machine to Bradford on Avon.

The Museum Society and Preservation Trust has been trying to secure the return of the Iron Duke – a rolling machine that Stephen Moulton started his rubber works with in the town in 1848 – for a number of years.

It has been in pieces at the Industrial Museum in Bristol since 1973, but will now be reassembled for public display near the old gate house in Kingston Road.

David Moss, the chairman of the Preservation Trust, said: “This is excellent news, as it now allows us to go ahead in sorting out details with Linden Homes and getting a foundation designed.”

Once the designs are complete, funding activities will take place.

It is expected the scheme will cost in the region of £50,000, but the fundraising started in 2010, when Dr Alex Moulton donated £10,000.

Mervyn Harris, the chairman of Bradford on Avon Museum Society, said: “The difficulty has been trying to find a site that is acceptable to all parties involved.

“It is an important part of Bradford on Avon and it should be sited near enough to where it was.

“I am delighted we can now move forward.”

The campaign to return the Iron Duke was originally proposed for Lamb Yard.

However, there were objections when some people said it should be kept as an open space, possibly for a market in the future.

The intention is to keep the machine in the open for the public to touch, but a layer of protective paint would have to be applied first.