A HISTORIC manor house which was gutted by an arson attack could be transformed into a house.

Alan McSorley, from Oswaldtwistle, is bidding for the third time in as many years to gain permission for the work at Sparth Manor in Clayton-le-Moors.

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The 16th Century building was torched in 2013, leaving the one-time restaurant’s ground floor wrecked.

Since then it has been added to English Heritage’s At Risk Register and two other attempts to turn it into a house were then withdrawn.

Mr McSorley, who bought the Grade II-listed property with his wife, had submitted other applications in September 2013 and March this year.

It was built in around 1556 by the Rishton family and originally called Sparth Farmhouse and Manor House.

The building was a hotel and gastro pub until it closed in 2012.

In a letter to the council, a spokesman for the applicant said: “The premises are at present unused and have suffered fire damage to ground floor and smoke damage to other areas.

“The building was formerly a public house and hotel which closed some time ago.

“The proposed use of the building will be a private domestic dwelling. This will involve the internal renovation of fire and smoke damage to both floor levels and the minor alterations to the internal layout by removing some of the 1970s stud partitions that form the bedrooms at first floor.

“There are no additions or areas of demolition that will affect the external appearance or footprint.

“The building is an important element of the local environment as a tangible link with the past architectural style of the Tudor period, and a historical element of both the social and physical past of Clayton-le-Moors.

“The building and its site have links to all of the most influential families that have lived in this locality over the past 600 years and in its later years as a farm was impoverished and neglected.

“Since its closure and subsequent vandalism, this building has been at risk of further damage by both vandals and the elements.

“The proposed use will provide a positive future and use for the building and maintain it as an example of Tudor building set within the environment of the Clayton landscape.”

Celebrity chef Nigel Haworth’s first job in the food industry was waiting tables at the restaurant when he was in college.

Hyndburn Council will discuss the latest application in the coming months.