Plans submitted to demolish Bristol's Grosvenor Hotel

The fire started on the ground floor and had rendered the building unsafe, Earclcloud Ltd said

Plans have been submitted to demolish a Bristol landmark.

Earlcloud Ltd has applied to knock down the former Grosvenor Hotel which stands close to Bristol Temple Meads railway station.

The building was gutted by a fire in October that was believed to have been deliberately started.

The firm's director Nimish Popat said the building had to be demolished because the fire had rendered the east and south elevations "unsafe".

In an application on Bristol City Council's planning portal, it said the authority had "no objections to site being demolished".

It said demolition would take place "provisionally" by hand if partially demolished, otherwise using a high-reach excavator fitted with a hydraulic demolition pulveriser.

The building has been derelict for the past 20 years and was hit by a large fire that began on the ground floor on 18 October.

No-one was injured but Avon Fire and Rescue Service evacuated people from a neighbouring building.

Neighbouring properties were evacuated during the blaze

The fire left the building in a "fundamentally dangerous condition" and the council took Earlcloud Ltd to Bristol Magistrates' Court last year.

In November, magistrates gave the firm until the end of the year to either demolish the building or make it structurally safe.

• Derelict hotel must be made safe within five weeks

• Derelict hotel fire was started deliberately

• Derelict hotel purchase by council moves closer

At the time, Mr Popat said the company's preference was to re-develop the site as soon as possible.

But on 8 December he submitted an application to demolish the building instead.

The application was validated by the council on 19 December and a decision is pending consideration.

The council has been contacted for further comment.

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