Support for demolition of 'eyesore' Telford pubs

Planning bosses at Telford & Wrekin Council granted permission for the Park Inn in Ironbridge Road, Madeley, and the Queens Arms in Southall Road, Dawley, to be knocked down.

Members at last night's meeting were all in favour of the scheme at the Queens Arms, which will see a two-storey building erected with retail space on the ground floor and seven one-bedroom flats above.

Councillor Malcolm Smith said: "I welcome something happening to this site. I go past it regularly and you look at it and it's very prominent and it stands out. The idea of that site being brought back into the village is a welcome one. Something serious needs to be done there."

Councillor Veronica Fletcher agreed. She said: "It's an eyesore and it's right on the mini roundabout, so I welcome this scheme."

Members were also in favour of redeveloping the site of the Park Inn, which has been closed for five years. Plans had been submitted for seven homes – a block of three and a block of four – to be built on the site.

However, councillors and local residents expressed concerns over the safety of traffic coming out of the new development.

Daphne Roberts, who has lived in Park Lane near the site for 20 years, said: "It is a dangerous junction at the Park Inn and it's only by luck that a fatal accident hasn't happened there because of the parked cars along the road meaning that people have to walk in the road."

Councillors agreed that there could be problems with visibility. However, board members decided that the benefits of redeveloping the site warranted permission.