A COUNCIL is to bulldoze a former pub it paid £410,000 for ‑ then did nothing with for nine years.

Salford council bought the Victorian Langworthy Hotel in 2000 as part of a masterplan to regenerate the area.

At the time they told the M.E.N the building was 'of great character at the heart of Seedley and Langworthy, and its future will be as an integral part of the new urban village centre's revitalization'.

Now it has emerged the pub is to be knocked down after the town hall rejected the idea of turning it into a facility for the community.

The city's Strategic Director for Sustainable Regeneration, Paul Walker, has approved the demolition.

An internal e-mail seen by the M.E.N says a number of options were considered.

They included doing nothing, which was dismissed as it was decided action was needed to 'safeguard the city's investment' in the area.

External repair was ruled out as too costly.

Not viable

The e-mail added that after two unsuccessful marketing attempts and approaches by potential investors that came to nothing, it became apparent the hotel was not a viable development opportunity.

A suggestion by the Seedley and Langworthy Trust to get funding to turn it into a community facility was turned down as work could not start for 18 months even if funding was secured.

Demolition was considered the best option as it 'would improve the attractiveness of the site to potential investors'.

The e-mail says demolition will now take place at the 'earliest opportunity'.

The town hall paid £350,000 for the building in 2000 – plus an extra £60,000 in compensation to a businessman who had paid just £70,000 for it four years earlier.

Today the council was condemned for wasting taxpayers' money.

Liberal Democrat councillor for the area Lynn Drake said: “I am angry about this. I was not consulted before the decision was made.

“There have been a number of ideas over the years for the building. A theatre group wanted to turn it into a facility for youngsters and the Seedley and Langworthy Trust had proposed a cafe and organic food shop for it.

Historical importance

“It is locally listed as a building of historical importance. It is a landmark in Langworthy and I think that after paying so much for it the council should have made more of an effort to put it to a good community use.

“It is a shocking waste of taxpayers' money.”

The council paid for the building with a £1.5m grant from the North West Development Agency, which was used to buy a number of buildings.

The hotel, a target for arsonists and protection racketeers, closed in 1993 after a thug walked in with a sawn-off shotgun and blasted the ceiling.

In 1994 Whitbread put it on the market for £120,000, but two years later reduced it to the knock-down price of £70,000.

The pub was opened by Threlfalls brewery in 1900 and was described as being 'beautifully decorated with the best billiard room in the borough'.

Liberal Democrats are now lobbying English Heritage in a last ditch attempt to get the building listed.