by Nic Rigby BBC News Online

The plans were drawn up by architects Ushida Findlay

A £4.2m scheme to transform an historic building in the centre of a Suffolk market town is in jeopardy, it has been claimed.

The Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery Trust wants to turn the Corn Exchange in the town into a visual arts centre.

A feasibility study, backed by St Edmundsbury Borough Council, provided radical plans for the site.

But now the Trust fears that the council has lost interest in the plans and may not provide any funding.

A council spokeswoman said no decision had been taken and the council had never promised to back the scheme.

A decision on the council's position on the plans is likely to be made at a meeting of the St Edmundsbury's cabinet committee on 7 April.

The Art Gallery Trust fears the council has lost interest in the plans

The plans for the Corn Exchange have been drawn up by award-winning international architects Ushida Findlay.

It is set to feature a double layered glass roof with two floors created in the building.

Barbara Taylor, director of the Art Gallery Trust, told BBC News Online: "The council asked us to do a feasibility study and gave us £20,000 towards it.

"We never had any indication they weren't supportive of the scheme.

"They were all supportive until November last year when they started to say they were not interested in pursuing it."

She said she felt "gutted" that the council appeared to have lost interest in the plans.

A council spokeswoman said no decision has been made

"At the meeting on 7 April I think they ought to continue to pursue it," she said.

Ms Taylor was concerned that the council might be looking at selling off the building to a private company.

Kathryn Findlay, of the architects Ushida Findlay, said she is very excited by the project and hopes it will get funding.

"We want to give life to a building which is a bit run down," she said.

"It is a design which is respectful but also optimistic."

A spokeswoman for the council said: "We gave them money for a feasibility study.

"We have to look at how to get the best use of the Corn Exchange.

"We have not made any decision regarding the Corn Exchange.

"No formal application has been made by the gallery and there have only been informal discussions."