Scarborough: council to demolish derelict Marine Residence Hotel

In the early hours of Sunday, July 16, a fire ripped through the derelict Marine Residence Hotel sparking a huge response from the emergency services with 50 firefighters on the scene.

The fire caused major damage to the former hotel, which closed in 2020.

Last week further damage was caused as high wind and rain during Storm Babet caused part of the building to collapse.

The damage caused to the Marine Residence Hotel in Scarborough after the fire and Storm Babet (Image: North Yorkshire Council)

North Yorkshire Council has today (Friday, October 27) confirmed that the building will be demolished.

The council says work will start on Monday (October 30) and is scheduled to be completed by Christmas.

A spokesperson for the authority said it applied to Scarborough Magistrates Court to grant an order under Section 77 of the Building Act allowing for the building to be demolished after a “lack of dialogue from the property freeholder”.

The scene at the Marine Residence hotel during the fire (Image: Station Manager Tony Walker)

The order requires the freeholder to start demolishing the building by no later than December 5 and to be completed by April 16 next year.

But the council says that after further damage was caused during Storm Babet and “the lack of action from the freeholder” the authority will be using its powers to demolish the building.

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North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director for environment, Karl Battersby, said: "Keeping the general public safe is paramount, and given the structural damage to the privately-owned building, which has been exacerbated by Storm Babet, demolition must begin imminently.

"We therefore have no choice but to carry out the work ourselves, make the site safe and allow us to reopen the roads in the area so that local residents and businesses can continue to go about their lives safely.

"We have tried numerous attempts to get in touch with the property freeholder and for them to take action, but due to a lack of communication the time has now come to address this ourselves."

The council says following the demolition of the building and the site being made safe, Belmont Road and lower Ramshill Road (between Belmont Road and Valley Road) will reopen.