Work is to start on the grounds of the Royal Hotel in Ashby - with a number of trees pruned and branches cut back.

Residents and councillors have been calling for the hotel to be renovated and the car park to be opened again.

But a fresh application to attend to trees in the ground of the hotel is all that has happened so far.

North West Leicestershire District Council this week permitted an application for various small trees along the boundary to be pruned back to clear the wall and signage.

Also, to clear the streetlight affected by various branches, Ash, Yew and Laurel.

The applicant is Youngs' Tree Surgery of Asfordby near Melton Mowbray, but the ownership of the trees is listed as Sharpe Real Estate based in Bath Street, Ashby, with the email address of Simon Dawson.

The Royal was being run by a company called Oakland Hotels which included locally-based Mr Dawson as one of its directors.

But cost of renovation was put at £3.5million and, since then, a planning application for the erection of a 30 apartment terrace, office building, cafe kiosk and 45 senior living apartment block with associated car parking has been made - with the promise of using the proceeds to fund the restoration and re-opening of the Royal.

It is now almost four years since Mr Dawson closed the Royal and two and a half years since planning permission was applied for.

But local councillors say the hotel building has been allowed to deteriorate and, last November, the vacant building was added to Historic England's 'at risk' register.

There is an 'open' planning application on the site but Historic England's assessment did not make encouraging reading.

Ashby councillors have been pushing for the re-opening of the Royal car park with the new Co-op site in Market Street leaving the town 17 spaces short at the rear of the building on South Street.

Last year, North West Leicestershire District Council said it was working with the owners to protect the Royal.

The council said it would support the owners – Oakland Hotels Limited - to bring it back into use as soon as possible.