Plans have been approved for a grade II listed seafront hotel’s restaurant to be separated from the accommodation and run as an independent business.

It comes after proposals were submitted to the Hartlepool Borough Council planning department earlier this year to carry out work at The Marine Hotel in Seaton Carew.

The application gives permission for the hotel’s existing restaurant, located at 5 The Front, to be separated from the main hotel premises to allow it to form a business unit to be run by an independent eatery.

Submitted by Mr and Mrs Dexter from the hotel, the proposals feature minor rear external alterations and new internal dividing walls being put in place, along with a 1.8metre timber fence around the patio area of the restaurant.

A report from council planning officers confirmed the application has been approved, ruling it “would not create any great harm” to the Seaton Conservation Area where it is located or the grade II listed Marine Hotel building.

They added it would not have “any unacceptable impacts” upon the amenity of nearby residents or visitors.

A planning statement from Wardman Brown notes the hotel owners “have found the space has become under used and can see the benefit in re-establishing it as a separate business unit”.

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It adds they have already “been approached by a local business wishing to expand into Seaton Carew”.

Planning documents note The Marine Hotel was constructed in the early 1900s and was named a grade II listed structure in 1985.

Four years later the neighbouring 5 The Front, which is not a listed building, was purchased and following a successful planning application became part of the hotel via a doorway on the ground floor.