Plans to repair 18th Century hotel approved

The Grade II-listed building has been dubbed an "eyesore" and "embarrassment" by local residents

Plans to repair a dilapidated 18th Century hotel in Herefordshire have been approved.

The Royal Oak in Leominster is set to undergo extensive renovation work after years of lying "redundant and neglected", planners have said.

The three-storey Grade II-listed building, at the junction of South Street and Etnam Street, lies within the town's conservation area.

Residents have praised plans to revamp the "eyesore".

Jay Rai, of Rai Fashions, Madley, applied in July last year for listed building consent to carry out repairs to the former coaching inn.

Work includes fixing its roof and windows, rebuilding a chimney and fixing storm damage inside and out.

"I have watched this once grand and beautiful building basically fall apart," Leominster resident Dorothy Lloyd told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

'Absolute eyesore'

She added: "It has become an absolute eyesore and an embarrassment, and it is work that is long overdue."

Fellow resident Pete Blench sought assurance that the hotel would be restored for "much-needed" visitor accommodation, which he said Leominster was "desperately short of, as both of the town's former principal hotels are vacant, disused and in a poor state of repair".

Leominster Town Council declined to comment owing to its role in the town's ongoing High Street Heritage Action Project, which will use £3.6m to improve the look of the town centre.