IN PICTURES: 15 photos as work begins to demolish fire and storm damaged hotel in Scarborough

North Yorkshire Council appointed a contractor to demolish the Marine Residence Hotel on Belmont Road in Scarborough, with work scheduled to be completed by Christmas.

In the early hours of Sunday, July 16, a fire broke out inside the privately-owned vacant property, leading to the building being deemed unsafe by North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Given the proximity of the building to the road, and the structural damage it had suffered, the council was keen to ensure the public were kept safe and action should be taken as soon as possible.

Due to a lack of dialogue from the property freeholder, the council applied to Scarborough Magistrates Court to grant an order under Section 77 of the Building Act, which required the freeholder to start demolishing the building by no later than December 5 and to be completed by April 16 next year.

However, following further damage caused during Storm Babet and the lack of action from the freeholder, the council will be using its powers to demolish the building.

North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director for environment, Karl Battersby, said: "Keeping the general public safe is paramount, and given the structural damage to the privately-owned building, which has been exacerbated by Storm Babet, demolition must begin imminently.

"We therefore have no choice but to carry out the work ourselves, make the site safe and allow us to reopen the roads in the area so that local residents and businesses can continue to go about their lives safely.

"We have tried numerous attempts to get in touch with the property freeholder and for them to take action, but due to a lack of communication the time has now come to address this ourselves."

Following the demolition of the building and the site being made safe, Belmont Road and lower Ramshill Road (between Belmont Road and Valley Road) will reopen.

Check out pictures from the demolition work below.