THE agents for the proposed transformation of The Raven hotel have revealed Brine Baths are set to be included in the plan, which could return baths to Droitwich for the first time in more than a decade.

We previously reported that if the plans were given the go-ahead, the listed Raven Hotel would be partly demolished to make way for 51 new homes, preserving the long-term future of the building.

The central part of the St Andrews Road hotel - which is grade II-listed and dates back to the late 16th century - will be kept as well as some of the later buildings.

Now The Raven hotel agents have said, after consultation with residents, Brine Baths will feature in their plans.

Rob Wall, planning consultant RCA Regeneration, said: "The application is on its way to resolution and in general the council is supportive, but of course there is a lot of attention given to The Raven itself because of its listed status.

"We are now working on what we anticipate will be the final version of the scheme which hopefully will be available on Wychavon's website towards the end of August.

"On a positive note we've agreed with the local community to have Brine Baths and a gin bar on the ground floor and this is the basis of what we are working on at the moment.

"The client hopes that this will bring The Raven back to its glory and provide additional housing need in the centre of Droitwich Spa. The proposals are focusing on making the town centre more attractive both for the local people and the visitors and also making it livelier by adding high quality housing.

"We are intending to propose that the left hand bookend of The Raven, as you view the building from St Andrews Street, will be the Brine Bath area so hopefully that should hopefully give you an indication of the size of the baths."

The former Brine Baths shut in 2009 because of problems with upkeep and ever since campaign group Save Our Brine Baths (SOBBs) have led the bid to return baths to the town.

William Moy, chairman of SOBBS, said in 2012 he hoped they could work with any new owners of Droitwich’s Raven Hotel to pave the way for the town’s historic brine baths to be reopened.

At that time he said: "We hope that the Raven Hotel can form an integral part of the baths' refurbishment. We hope to form a partnership that would see bath visitors using the Raven Hotel as accommodation, like they used to do."

Droitwich Spa famously became the only saltwater spa town in Britain when John Corbett created the first spa, St Andrew's Brine Baths, in 1887 as part of the Raven Hotel.

The first baths opened in the 1830s, taking advantage of the natural brine springs that have been used in the town since Roman times.