Pub could be bulldozed to increase hotel space

The Aspley pub in Huddersfield shut earlier this month

A once-popular West Yorkshire pub is set to be bulldozed, after closing its doors earlier this month.

The Aspley, on St Andrew's Road in Huddersfield, was one of 100 venues owned by hospitality giant Whitbread to be earmarked for closure last month.

The company has applied for planning permission to build additional hotel rooms and a breakfast room for the neighbouring Premier Inn, which it also owns.

A public consultation on the plans is currently under way and a decision from Kirklees Council is expected by October.

In addition to the Whitbread-owned restaurants being replaced by hotel rooms, a further 126 will be sold over the next two years.

Whitbread said the move would result in the loss of around 1,500 staff members from a 37,000-strong workforce.

A spokesperson for the company previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We recognise that this will be unsettling for our team members, and we are providing them with dedicated support.

“We are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of our affected team members to stay with us by either transferring into new roles, or by taking up other vacancies across the business more broadly through our existing recruitment activity.”

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