Fire-hit Lovell Lodge Hotel in Cambridge could become flats

Lovell Lodge has been empty since the fire in June 2016

A city guest house which went up in flames could be torn down and replaced with a block of flats, plans reveal.

Fire ripped through the roof of Lovell Lodge in Cambridge on 5 June last year.

Developers Twenty Nine Architecture said due to the amount of time the hotel had been closed it was "not viable" to return it to its former use.

The proposals, lodged with Cambridge City Council, have prompted concerns about parking in the area. Councillors are yet to discuss the plans.

The developers said reopening the site as a hotel is not a viable option

Lovell Lodge has been empty since the fire, which started during breakfast time in the kitchen and caused "irreplaceable damage" to the building and roof, according to developers.

Under the proposals, it will be demolished and replaced with 14 flats - a mixture of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom.

Comments made by members of the public in response to the application said it would be an "overdevelopment" of the site and "too dense" for the surroundings.

Others have raised concerns about parking in the area.

Up to 40 people were evacuated when the fire broke out at Lovell Lodge on Milton Road

In one letter to the council, a neighbour said cars used to park on the grass verge for the hotel and there were still "ruts and churned up mud" in front of the Lovell Lodge front wall.

"Increasingly people have one vehicle each and with the potential of 14 dwellings, that is a potential for 28 vehicles," he said.

The developers said the area was "ideally suited to this type of accommodation".

At the time of the fire, six crews from Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue tackled the flames.

The hotel was evacuated and up to 40 people were led to safety. No-one needed hospital treatment.