'Oliver Twist building' safe

The British Government has announced it has given protected status to a former workhouse thought to have inspired Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist.

The move should save the building from demolition. Heritage Minister John Penrose said the austere Georgian edifice was "an eloquent reminder of one of the grimmer aspects of London's 18th-century social history".

With Grade 2 status, the building can't be demolished and any redevelopment must take account of its "special architectural and historic interest".

The rundown building in central London had been slated to be replaced by a housing development, but local residents and academics fought to save it.