Hartlepool: Ex-Odeon cinema's listed status 'hugely complex'

The 1930s building closed as a cinema in 1981 and was later used as a nightclub

The state of a derelict cinema is proving "hugely complex" for a council to tackle because it is a listed building, a meeting has been told.

The former Odeon in Raby Road, Hartlepool, is on an authority list of 27 so-called problem empty sites.

Regeneration bosses want a community park to be built there instead.

However because it has Grade II listed status, it makes it more difficult to take action against the owners and serve legal notices.

The 1930s building closed as a cinema in 1981 and after subsequent uses, including as a night club, it has remained unused since around the turn of the millennium.

The future of the site was raised at a recent meeting into tackling derelict buildings in the town, which are ranked by priority.

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Labour and Co-operative councillor Gary Allen said the building, located in his Victoria ward, has been "left to look ugly" and had "stood empty for quite a long time", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Tony Hanson, the council's executive director of development, said there was "little we can do" other than "just keep on to it".

"We can't tell them to aesthetically improve their building, we can only get them to either address defects that exist with a notice, or potentially demolish," he said.

"We couldn't serve that notice on them because we aren't allowed to demolish it without the permission of getting the listed building consent removed, so it's a hugely complex process for a listed building.

"We monitor it, fortunately it's near to the Civic Centre and the police so we can keep an eye on it."