The owner of the Royal Hotel in Ashby has given the reasons why a demolition sign and fencing have been put up at the Grade II* listed building.

Simon Dawson, of Oakland Hotels, says work has started on the renovation of the hotel.

Mr Dawson currently has a planning application lodged with North West Leicestershire District Council to build 17 townhouses on the site - with a view to re-opening the hotel which has been closed for the past five years.

But the current work is connected to a previous application - though not word for word - from seven years ago, as well as the 'imminent' sale of the Bath Grounds to Ashby de la Zouch Town Council.

Fencing has been erected around the car park area of the hotel with a demolition notice also prominent at the front of the site.

Mr Dawson told Ashby Nub News: "This is the first phase, of the renovation of the hotel. This is linked to the sale of the Bath Grounds, which is due to complete anytime now, imminently I think is the term.

"This first phase includes an asbestos strip out, demolition of the single storey elements of the building and a full renovation of the roof."

In 2016, Mr Dawson got planning permission and listed building consent for the demolition of side and rear extensions at the hotel, among other alterations.

But a report released earlier this month, and commissioned by North West Leicestershire District Council, has highlighted the rising cost of restoring the hotel.

However, it also recommends that the best use for the site is to keep it as a hotel.

Real estate company Cushman & Wakefield compiled the report about the future of the Royal and the Conservation Deficit of the hotel.

The conservation deficit is the amount by which the cost of repair of a heritage asset exceeds its market value on completion.

In this case, the report says it is £3.5 million, compared to the applicant's assessment of £2.77 million - leaving a deficit of around £730,000.

The application is an 'enabling development', which is one that would not normally be given planning permission, except for the fact that it secures the future conservation of a heritage asset.

The report says: "The form and scale of the proposed 'enabling development' is consistent with its definition.

"And, that a hotel use remains the most viable use for the Royal Hotel building."

The report also lists the next steps that are to be taken.

It says: "The Assessor has flagged the risk that the proposed enabling development, may by a relatively small margin, fail to bridge the conservation deficit.

"To address the risk this presents to the heritage asset, a mechanism should be in place to:

• Secure key enveloping works (that safeguard the structural and historic integrity of the heritage asset) at the earliest possible point

• put the onus on the applicant to prove to the local planning authority, before the enabling works commence, that funding is in place to complete the enveloping works."

The report also says: "It is the applicant's opinion (set out in the planning statement) that the conservation deficit is fully funded by the proposed enabling development.

"The basis of the applicant's approach is the draft heads of terms, which includes the following Commencement of Development under the new Planning Permission will not occur before: I. The sum of £590,000 (after legal costs), which will come from the sale of the Bath Grounds to the Town Council, is deposited in an escrow account held by the Owner's solicitors in accordance with the Section 106 Agreement.

"II. Under the Section 106 agreement governing the sale of the Bath Grounds, the Owner of the Hotel plot will be obliged to commence work on the schedule of Conservation Repairs as set out in the s106 agreement within six months of the completion of the sale of the Bath Grounds to the Town Council, subject to necessary consents being granted."