A long-standing plan to turn disused historic buildings in the heart of Hereford into ten flats has run into trouble.

Jay Rai applied in late 2020 for listed building consent to convert the distinctive 32 to 35 Bridge Street, described in his application as “good examples of late Georgian and Victorian design”, with 33 to 35 having individual grade II conservation listings.

The proposal would minimise changes to the buildings, with internal features retained or replicated, though one roof section, “in a bad state”, would need to be rebuilt.

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Consent was given in April 2022 on condition work was begun within three years.

Conditions also had to be met relating to doors, windows and other fixtures. But now Herefordshire Council says Mr Rai has failed to meet these conditions and has gone against them in the work done so far.

Senior building conservation officer Conor Ruttledge said “a substantive degree of internal work” has been already been carried out without approval, some of which has “departed from approved plans, resulting in the loss of significant historic fabric”.

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The “impermeable” wall and roof insulation used was “not appropriate” for the buildings, unauthorised “underboarding” of ceilings had obscured cornices, while the supplied floor plans “include elements which have been demolished or altered without consent”, he said.

Failure to comply with a listed building consent condition “constitutes a criminal offence”, Mr Ruttledge pointed out, and said it was now “unclear” whether the granted building consent had been “nullified” by the unapproved work.

“Enforcement investigations are currently ongoing at this site,” he said.

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Number 33 Bridge Street once served as the John Gwynne James Memorial Home for Nurses, while more recently the buildings are also thought to have been used as offices by Welsh Water, Hereford City Council and by a firm of accountants.

Mr Rai meanwhile also faces problems in his attempts to bring the dilapidated Royal Oak hotel in Leominster back into use.

Town councillors agreed in April to ask Herefordshire Council to begin enforcement against Mr Rai to address the hotel building’s continued declining state, a move backed by county council leader Jonathan Lester and former North Herefordshire MP Sir Bill Wiggin.