LEDBURY architect Ian Stainburn has been given the tricky task of restoring and preserving Shakespeare's tombstone, - a slab bearing a terrifying curse which warns people not to move it.

Shakespeare, who died in 1616, aged 52, was a lay rector at the Collegiate Church of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford.

As such he had the privilege of being buried inside the church, near the altar.

But he probably suspected that this would not prevent his body from being dug up for the church's charnel house at some point in time.

Legend has it that the great poet was buried very deep.

But as extra insurance he is thought to have composed the curse that can still be seen on his grave slab.

Using modern spelling, the inscription reads: "Good Friend, for Jesus's sake forbear/To dig the dust enclosed here./ Blessed be the man that spares these stones/ And cursed be he who moves my bones."

They are not, perhaps, the finest lines ever penned by the Bard.

But they have warned off the curious for almost four centuries as well a posing something of a conservation conundrum.

Mr Stainburn. who has given the matter much thought, said: "We won't have to move his slab, thank goodness!"

Instead Mr Stainburn is proposing moving the chancel rail forwards so that, in future, clergy will not have to tread on the famous grave while standing by the altar.

"Mr Stainburn added: "You can't stop the stone eroding but you can slow it down, with lime mortar repairs."

The slab has probably been re-cut at least once in the 392 years since the poet's death.

Stainburn Taylor has been given the task of carrying out extensive repairs at Shakespeare's Church, to a total value of £321,000.

Repairs have been carried out to the tower, the parapet corbels and to other areas of eroded masonry.

The complete restoration is not likely to be finished until Easter next year.