Unique stained glass features on one of Tenby's best-known business premises have disappeared in the last week - but they will return shortly following restoration.

Sharp-eyed shoppers may have noticed that the T. P. Hughes stained glass windows high above St. Nicholas Lane, which links Upper Frog Street and High Street, have been replaced by plain glass.

The eight window panels carry the words 'T. P. Hughes Millinery and Costumes' on one side and 'T. P. Hughes Furnishing Department' on the other. They are being restored as part of major works on the firm's premises which have been supported by a grant under the Tenby Town Scheme jointly managed by the Pembrokeshire Coat National Park Authority and Cadw.

Roof repairs are also being carried out on the northern T. P. Hughes premises - a Georgian building remodelled in the Edwardian period.

Mr. David Hughes, managing director of T. P. Hughes, said the stained glass features had been in place for perhaps 80 years and were now much in need of restoration.

"Some of the glass had broken and the windows had buckled, there was an urgent need to rescue them. A stained glass specialist, Nicholas Beacham, of Redditch, removed them last Wednesday (November 6) and they will be returned, as good as new, in a few weeks time and reinstalled."

It was appropriate, Mr. Hughes added, that the restoration work was being carried out in the 100th anniversary year of the family firm, which was established by his grandchildren in 1902.

Before the windows were removed, Mr. Hughes showed them to the chairman of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, Clr. Gordon Cawood, and the area manager of the Welsh Development Agency, Mr. Gordon Reed.

The WDA is one of the main funders of the Town Scheme.

Said Clr. Cawood: "The windows are most impressive features and the authority is delighted that one of our Town Scheme grants has been able to support their restoration. In previous years the scheme has supported other work at T. P. Hughes, including the gradual return of the shop fronts to their original Edwardian look."

Rob Scourfield, the National Park's building conservation officer, praised the support over the past 13 years of the WDA and the other funding partners which include Cadw, the Wales Tourist Board and Pembrokeshire County Council.

"We are particularly grateful to Gordon Reed for his support of the Town Schemes and other projects in Tenby," he added.

The roof repair work on the premises is being undertaken by a local building firm headed by Mark Worley, of St. Florence.