A HOTEL which seemed destined for closure six months ago is to be refurbished at a cost of £500,000.

Plans to convert the Croft Spa Hotel, near Darlington, into houses and apartments were withdrawn in June following objections from residents who feared parking problems.

The Coast and Country group has now applied for planning permission to refurbish the 170-year-old hotel and convert an outbuilding into a house.

The internal facelift begins next week and managers hope that Richmondshire District Council will give the go-ahead for outside work to begin. Planning officers will decide the issue under delegated powers.

Jeanette MacMurray, hotel sales and marketing manager, said the number of bedrooms would be reduced from 36 to 20 by the demolition of outbuildings. Those that remained would be refurbished to "executive" standard and that aspect of the project should be complete by the end of January.

The bar and restaurant would be knocked into an open plan area and given a country inn theme. The ballroom would be retained, but redecorated, mainly for weddings, and the hotel would keep its civil marriage licence.

A new chef, Lee Stainthorpe, had been appointed and was working on new menus, many of which would involve locally-produced food, said Ms MacMurray.

Mr Stainthorpe, from Darlington, formerly worked at the Morritt Arms, near Barnard Castle, and the Paul Heathcote restaurant in Manchester.

The gymnasium at the hotel has already been re-equipped and a sauna and steam room are to be added.

The Croft Spa, a grade II listed building, was built in 1835 by Ignatius Bonomi to house visitors to the nearby sulphur spa. In the nineteenth century it was a horse breeding stud.