THE Queen's Hotel in Bamber Bridge is to be demolished to make way for new town houses, after a local couple bought the land.

The Church Road pub, which has stood empty for nearly a year, was snapped up by property developer Colin Wood, 56, who manages Willowwood Property Ltd.

His wife Anne grew up just yards away from the inn, her family, the Stones, having owned a house in Church Road for 100 years.

Despite moving to London, the husband and wife team are still keen on South Ribble and have begun building property in the area.

They bought the pub last August and have plans to develop the land into six town houses.

Colin, who was formerly in the merchant navy, said: "The pub was built around the 1930s and it had its heyday when the A6 was the main road. People would stop off here on their way to the Blackpool illuminations.

"The passing trade died away with the changes in traffic."

Colin has already built four town houses on the road. The three storey dwellings will be on marketed for about £135,000.

Area planning officer at South Ribble Borough Council, Andrew Stell, said: "This is a conservation area and planning permission has not yet been granted, although the development is expected to go ahead, following the signing of a legal agreement.

"The materials used to build the houses will be stone and slate and are expected to reflect the style of buildings in the street, which are of architectural merit."

The development has been approved by the council's planning committee.