Owner of Bristol’s fire damaged Grosvenor Hotel ordered to make building safe or demolish it

The owner of the derelict Grosvenor Hotel near Temple Meads has until the end of the year to make the building safe or demolish it.

The majority of scaffolding at the front of the former hotel, which was badly damaged by fire in October, was removed by contractors this week.

The removal comes just days after a court order was served on the owner, London-based Earlcloud Ltd, to make the building safe after fears it might collapse after the blaze.

Council experts have said that Earcloud Ltd will need to erect special scaffolding to shore up the external walls. The eyesore building has been surrounded by a security fence which forms an exclusion zone to protect pedestrians and cyclists.

A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: “We are pleased that the Magistrates Court have ordered the owner of the Grosvenor Hotel to make the building sufficiently safe.

“Once the building is sufficiently safe, the current exclusion zone that has been in place since the fire can be significantly reduced and allow the reopening of the surrounding public highways, cycle ways and footpaths that have been closed on Health and Safety grounds.

“Council officers will remain in discussion with the owner to ensure action is taken quickly and appropriately in accordance with the order.”