MILLIONAIRE Alfie Best's Herefordshire hotel has been branded 'the town dump' by Bromyard's mayor.

The Hop Pole hotel, which dominates the town's Market Square, has been put up for auction this week, five years after it was bought by the Wyldecrest Parks owner and Undercover Big Boss star. 

The state of the hotel has long been a contentious topic in the town, with concerns raised by Bromyard Town Council about the deterioration the listed building has suffered over the years. 

Mr Best, who also owns nearby Sapey Golf Club and Saltmarshe Castle residential park, had said he would plough £1.2 million into the hotel, gaining planning permission in February 2023 for various alterations. 

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But the project has been beset with problems, some of which Mr Best says stem from the building being listed, and remains almost untouched.

It is now being marketed by agents Savills with an auction guide price of £165,000 and an auction date of May 8.

The latest development has sparked questions from many on social media, while video shared by local councillor Pete Andrews from a meeting of Bromyard Town Council on April 18 showed councillors speaking out after they were asked whether it could be a community asset or whether the council could find a way of funding it.

But councillors slapped the idea down, saying it was in a "dreadful state" and that they would not be able to afford it. 

"It's the town dump as far as I'm concerned," said Mayor of Bromyard, Councillor Dr Dee Dunne Thomas. 

 The councillor said she had asked in the past if something could be placed around it, like the hoarding that for years hid away fire-ravaged buildings in Hereford's High Town.

"The only time that building looks any good is when it is hidden by the Christmas tree," she said.

"It's a great shame for the people who have got businesses in that square, busting a gut to do their best, to have this appalling eyesore."

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Councillor Clare Davies said that even if the building was bequeathed to the town, they would not be able to afford to do anything with it. 

"When I was part of the Chamber of Commerce, we did write to Alfie Best to say would you consider putting a shroud around it - something to make it look better," she said.

"And the answer came back saying that it was going to cost £50,000 and that was not something that they were prepared to do."

While Mr Best told the Hereford Times earlier this month that he would be putting the hotel up for sale after threats of enforcement and social media abuse, it is not the only asset he has put on the market recently.

The millionaire has reportedly sold off items including a number of supercars and his helicopter after deciding to leave the UK and live in Monaco as a tax exile.