Hotel demolition set to begin to make way for Lidl

Two metre high wooden hoardings surround the old hotel site.

The demolition of a large hotel and events venue in Hereford is set to begin amid complaints it should have been preserved.

Permission was granted in April for the Three Counties Hotel off Belmont Road to be knocked down and replaced with a Lidl supermarket.

A legal challenge by protest group Save the Three Counties was made to Herefordshire Council, arguing the award of planning permission did not take into account the hotel’s role as a community asset.

But the retailer has since written to residents. In the letter, it explained work to remove the hotel would begin from 4 November and last until late January.

Lidl said it was “keen to work in harmony with our neighbours and local residents”, giving out contact numbers for both itself and its contractor, Wye Valley Demolition.

The firm said in July it wanted to begin work “as early as possible” after having sent bailiffs to remove a group of travellers who set up camp on the hotel site the previous month.

Wire mesh fencing around the hotel site was then replaced by two metre high wooden hoardings coated in anti-climb paint, making the site largely invisible from the outside.

Lidl has said it intends to appoint a contractor to build the supermarket early next year.