Plans lodged to knock down part of former prison

Plans were announced in November to create a boutique hotel at Shrewsbury Prison

A block at a former prison could be knocked down as part of wider plans to redevelop the 230-year-old site.

A planning application lodged with Shropshire Council proposes to demolish the 1970s-era former workshop and education block at Shrewsbury Prison.

It comes after Shrewsbury Prison Ltd announced its intention to turn the site, which was decommissioned in 2013, into a 20-bedroom boutique hotel with conferencing facilities.

The former prison currently operates as a tourist attraction and has previously featured in TV dramas and celebrity reality show Banged Up.

Once demolished, the site of the old workshop and education block would be levelled and finished with a hardstanding surface before further plans are brought forward.

“It costs significant sums of money to keep the building, even in its current unused state, so the applicant would like to remove it to reduce the running costs of the site and to open up greater views of the historic, listed buildings to visitors,” the planning application said.

“The removal of the building would improve the visibility of the listed structure, part of which is currently obscured by the education building.”

The applicant said future proposals for this section of the prison would “enhance the current visitor attraction of the old jail” and not replace it.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.