Demolition underway at Three Counties Hotel Hereford

Machinery could be seen at the site of Three Counties Hotel on Belmont Road today (November 10) as the demolition of the site begins to make way for a new supermarket.

Remnants of some rooms and bathrooms could be seen as the workers continued the large demolition project.

Demolition is progressing on the site to make way for a new supermarket. (Image: Gordon Bucher) Permission was granted in April for the former 60-bedroom hotel to be demolished to make way for a Lidl supermarket.

A legal challenge by the Save the Three Counties group of local residents was then made to Herefordshire Council saying its award of planning permission hadn’t taken into account the hotel’s role as a community asset. This appears to have been unsuccessful.

(Image: Gordon Bucher)

Asylum seekers first moved in to the Three Counties Hotel in March last year, when the hotel signed a contract with the Home Office.

The hotel was operated by Serco, a Home Office contractor, with Herefordshire Council working with local partners and the community and voluntary sector to support the asylum seekers coming to the county.

By February this year, all the residents had left the hotel, and had been moved on to "dispersal" housing in other cities of the West Midlands.

Lidl, who initially applied for planning permission for the site in 2023, had said it plans to appoint a contractor to build the supermarket early next year.