Work has begun to demolish the former BHS site in St Albans city centre.
Scaffolding has gone up around the site of BHS in St Peter’s Street, which has been vacant since the store went into administration in 2016.
Last year, developers Reef Estates received planning permission to build a 130-bed hotel in place of the shop, with 50 per cent of the ground floor frontage reserved for retail space.
The building covers 0.14 hectares and is five storeys high.
St Albans district council officers initially advised councillors to refuse the application, but there was vocal support for the scheme from St Albans Business Improvement District (BID), St Albans Civic Society and Cllr Annie Brewster, portfolio holder for sports and culture.
Cllr Brewster described the site as the “most hideous” in Hertfordshire, and Cllr Eileen Harris described it as “the ugliest building in town”.
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