Council takes over Denbigh's North Wales Hospital

The former Victorian asylum closed in 1995

A council has taken ownership of a derelict Victorian hospital, five years after a dispute about the site's future got under way.

Denbighshire County Council began its bid to purchase Denbigh's sprawling North Wales Hospital in 2013.

The hospital site has been the scene of numerous fires and acts of vandalism since it closed in 1995.

A statement from the county council said: "An historic milestone has been reached."

It said 28 days had passed without appeal since it served notice on owners Freemont (Denbigh) Ltd, so the council was now the new owner.

BBC Wales has asked Freemont for a comment.

The last patients left the Grade II-listed mental health complex in 1995, although it was earmarked for closure in the 1960s.

It was later sold to the private firm but plans to redevelop the site with housing fell through and the condition of the buildings began to deteriorate.

An archive photograph from inside the hospital

A major fire has wrecked the roof of the main hospital building

In 2011, Denbighshire council carried out £1m of emergency safety work, then two years later the authority voted to initiate a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) for the hospital and a High Court appeal by Freemont failed.

Later that year the order was rubber-stamped by the Welsh Government.

On Friday, the council said the takeover process had finally been completed after it issued the former owners with a general vesting declaration which was unchallenged, giving the authority site ownership.

• Rise and fall of iconic landmark

• Watch: Archive footage of ex-asylum

Council leader Hugh Evans said: "This is such a historic occasion and we are delighted that the years of hard work, determination and commitment to protecting this historic listed building has reached this momentous point."

In April, local firm Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK and North Wales Building Preservation Trust were selected as the preferred developers to bring it back into use.

The site will remain in the ownership of Denbighshire County Council until the outcome of a planning application from Jones Bros moves forward.

It said a security presence was now in place on the site along with CCTV cameras and new fencing.