A PRIME area of Darwen town centre, which has planning permission for a four-storey hotel with 34 rooms, has been put on the market for more than £1million.

In September, approval was given for the hotel on land in Church Street previously occupied by Frankie’s Bar.

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The original plans were proposed by Cyberbase Ltd but the plot is now being advertised on property site rightmove.com for auction on Tuesday, December 13, with a reserve price of £1,150,000.

The description of the site states: “The former site of Frankie’s Bar has now been demolished leaving a cleared site.

“Planning was granted for the development of the vacant site for a four-storey hotel with 34 rooms, 17 parking spaces, a breakfast room, bar and spa, creation of new vehicular access in Church Bank Street and on street loading bay in Bank Street.”

The pub site lay empty and derelict until an application to demolish it was approved in August last year.

The sale is being marketed by London-based auctioneers Lot 11 ahead of the auction in a month.

The proposal was approved despite opposition from Conservative councillors who felt that the hotel could lead Church Street to become a ‘nightmare’ road.

However, Labour councillor John Roberts accused the Tories of ‘consistently opposing’ regeneration in the town.

Cllr Roberts, a Darwen representative on both the borough and town council, said: “This will be a tremendous addition to the centre of Darwen, it’s just the sort of regeneration we are trying to encourage.

“I’m pleased this application has gone through.”

The Darwen Central Conservative Club used to occupy the site, which was then used by Frankie’s Bar prior to extensive fire damage in 2012.

The site is currently vacant and protected by temporary hoarding.

Cllr Phil Riley, executive member for regeneration for Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “It makes use of a clearly derelict space.

“It shows that a hotel in the town centre of Darwen can be a great success.”

In 2014 the site was bought by Hong Kong businessman Pal Pang at auction who said it would be a “major asset” and said it would be finished in 2017.