THE former home of Droitwich's British Legion will be demolished to make way for new flats after plans were backed by councillors.

The club off Salwarpe Road, which was home to the Royal British Legion had last been taken over by Cannon Royall Brewery and used as a pub called the Legion Inn, closed suddenly in 2016 and has been vacant since.

Wychavon District Council's planning committee approved plans to demolish the largely single-storey building to make way for a three-and-four-storey apartment building filled with 22 flats at a meeting on Thursday (April 1).

Cllr John Hartley, who represents Droitwich Central ward, said: "We really do need this affordable housing in the town.

"It will improve the aesthetics of the area. I have grown up in the town and that road has been really scruffy for two decades and really needs tidying up.

"The proximity to the town centre and the station is a real positive and is within walking distance of Berry Hill.

"The main concern was the lack of public consultation with neighbours and I do think they feel a bit disenfranchised."

Cllr Hartley did raise some concerns from neighbours about the flats being close to a fuel storage site and the risk of being close to the "incredibly fast" and "Grand Prix style" Salwarpe Road which regularly sees cars speeding.

Cllr Alex Sinton, who represents Droitwich East, agreed with Cllr Hartley about the busy Salwarpe Road and asked for reassurance that the site would be safe next to a fuel depot.

"It's amazing the road because people tend to completely ignore and don't actually know it is a 30 miles per hour road," he told the committee on Thursday.

"Balanced against this, the British Legion premises has been empty for a long time and if members were able to visit the site they would have seen how unsightly and dilapidated the building and grounds have become.

"It looks horrible."

Several attempts have been made made to bring the building back into use but the Royal British Legion has now said it has decided to allow the building to be demolished for flats with the money raised pumped back into the charity's work.

A total of 15 one-bed and seven two-bed flats would be built.

The plan was backed by the planning committee by 13 votes to one with one abstention.