An historic Birmingham manor house will stay open after it was handed a last-minute lifeline by the city council.

Campaigners have won a stay of execution for Rookery House, a listed Georgian building, in Erdington, the council planned to board-up last Friday.

The council has bowed to public and political pressure and decided to keep the building open while talks continue to hand it to Rookery House Restoration Trust.

In August the group submitted their third, amended version of a business plan for the house, left in a covenant for the people of Erdington.

Protesters have been fighting for a stake in the future of the decaying 37-room mansion in Rookery Park.

The remaining council staff from the parks department who work in the building, along with the park-keeper and a police base were due to move out.

Coun Robert Alden (Con, Erdington) said: “Following intense pressure over weeks, Birmingham City Council has suspended plans to close Rookery House.”

Coun Ray Hassall, cabinet member for leisure and culture, confirmed to Erdington councillors his directorate had suspended for a month plans to take its staff out of Rookery House.

He said the month would be used to let council officers, councillors and residents meet to discuss how to transfer Rookery House from the council to the resident-run Rookery House Restoration Trust.

Coun Alden said: “We are delighted pressure from councillors and residents forced a re-think. It is an important community asset, a gem, and it’s great news for Erdington. If the problems cannot be ironed out within the four weeks we will try to keep Rookery House open until a deal can be done.”

Rookery House is more than 300 years old and was the birthplace of the wife of social reformer William Wilberforce. It was used as Erdington’s Town Hall in the early 1900s, until the area was amalgamated by the city.

Many original features remain such as mirrors and door shutters which English Heritage says are “almost unique”.

Phil Mist, project manager for Rookery House Restoration (Erdington) said potential funders have been lined up to restore the house. He estimated it might cost £1.5 million.

He added: “We’ve put a lot of work into this and my hope is somebody, somewhere will listen.”

A spokeswoman for Birmingham City Council said: “We have arranged for staff to be based at Rookery House for a further month. We will continue to work with the Rookery House Restoration Trust and we will be reviewing the new business plan to find a sustainable solution.”