Scarborough hotel ravaged by fire and storm to be demolished

The damage to the building was made worse by Storm Babet, the council said

A seaside hotel in Scarborough which was gutted by fire earlier this year before suffering further damage during Storm Babet is to be demolished.

The Marine Residence Hotel on Belmont Road was described by North Yorkshire Council as being "extremely dangerous" following the blaze in July.

North Yorkshire Council said it had tried to contact its owner, but there had been a "lack of communication".

A council spokesperson said it would be forced to begin demolition on Monday.

Dozens of firefighters tackled the blaze at the disused Marine Residence Hotel

The hotel was empty when the fire broke out at about 01:00 BST on 16 July and, at its height, 50 firefighters tackled the flames.

Due to the state of the building since the blaze, Belmont Road and part of Ramshill Road have remained closed.

North Yorkshire Council said it had tried to get the owners to take action over the building's condition and it obtained a court order requiring them to start its demolition by 5 December at the latest.

Karl Battersby, the council's corporate director for environment, said: "Keeping the general public safe is paramount.

"Given the structural damage to the privately-owned building, which has been exacerbated by Storm Babet, demolition must begin imminently."

North Yorkshire Council said the site was "extremely dangerous"

Mr Battersby said the council had "no choice but to carry out the demolition work ourselves".

The authority had "tried numerous attempts to get in touch with the property freeholder and for them to take action", he added.

Demolition work was expected to be completed by Christmas and the affected roads would reopen once the site was made safe, the council said.