A dilapidated fire-hit former Hartlepool pub has finally been demolished.

Proposals were approved earlier this year by Hartlepool Borough Council planning department to knock down The Hourglass pub building in Eaglesfield Road.

The site has been hit with numerous fires in recent years since it became vacant in 2019, which led to councillors calling for urgent action to make the area safe to protect residents.

Councillor Pamela Hargreaves, who has been fighting alongside her Labour colleague in the Manor House ward Councillor Ben Clayton for action to be taken,  said she was pleased to see the building has been knocked down.

Posting on social media, she said: “Absolutely delighted to finally see this blight on the neighbourhood demolished.

“The Hourglass has been the cause of so many calls and emails from residents driven to distraction with the noise, the rubbish, the vandalism and so it goes on.

“We will be keeping an eye on what comes next, you can be assured.”

Plans previously submitted to secure the demolition from M and A Holding Limited stated the building was in a “dilapidated state” after fires in September 2021, April 2022 and May 2022.

This left the site “not functional as a public house” and the continued use of the property “not viable”. 

A separate “permission in principle” application has also been approved, seeking to provide five new bungalows on the pub site. 

A more detailed application must first come forward before those works commence however.

A statement from Avalon Town Planning said demolishing the pub and building bungalows in its place would “improve the appearance of a currently run-down site” and the area as a whole.