IT is the end of an era for a former city pub as work has begun to demolish the building.

Cranes were on the scene at the  Harvester on Droitwich Road as developers prepare to build a new care home.

The building, more formerly known as Perdiswell House, allegedly has some parts which date back to the 1840s. 

Worcester News: Today (Friday), a blue digger was at the property removing parts of the house and lifting rubble into three big red construction bins.

A construction worker on site said it could take up to two weeks to demolish the entire building.

Worcester City Council’s planning committee gave the green light to demolish the former Perdiswell Harvester and replace it with a 76-bed care home – a year after throwing out a similar plan for being too big.

The plans, which were submitted by MACC Care, were narrowly backed by councillors. 

The pub in Claines closed its doors in April 2019 after owners Mitchells & Butlers decided to sell up, just three years after investing in a major refurbishment.

Worcester News: Since then, it has sat empty and derelict.

Before the plans for the current care home were granted, a similar plan for a 78-bed care home on the same site was rejected by councillors in 2022, who called the designs “ugly and depressing” and “lacking imagination” and akin to “barracks for warehousing people.”

Worcester News: Demolition has started.Demolition has started. (Image: NQ)Councillors had gone against the advice of officers when it rejected the plan and planners, who described the latest plan as “broadly identical” to the one rejected last year, again recommended the care home be approved.

A controversial plan to build a McDonald’s drive-thru on the site was eventually withdrawn in November 2019 after hundreds objected, saying it should not be built near a school.

Previously, a spokesperson for MACC Care said that the building is not listed, is unsuitable for conversion and has been assessed as a non-designated heritage asset.