ONE of Darlington's most eccentric and distinctive buildings is likely to be demolished.

The Rise Carr pub, in the north of the town, is covered in bizarre heads, carved by stonemason Robert Borrowdale in 1867, but attempts to have it listed as a "hot case" have just failed.

After a 12-month search, developer Wharton Construction has been unable to find a community group willing to take on the conversion of the pub. Now councillors will decide on September 24 whether the building should be demolished and replaced with new homes.

The pub has been closed and derelict since a man died in a bar-room disturbance there in May last year.

Architect Borrowdale, who hailed from Barnard Castle and whose first commission was probably the rebuilding of Startforth Church, once had several strange buildings standing in Darlington. He covered them all with austere bearded faces, fierce-looking women and curious Gothic figureheads.

His piece de resistance was Westbrook Buildings, in Northgate, which had 25 gargoyles and was finished with a 50ft circular tower on which a large Angel of the Nativity stood.

Westbrook Buildings was demolished in 1962, and now only three Borrowdale extravagances remain: the curious but sedate Melville House, on the corner of High Northgate and Station Road; No 1 Leadenhall Street, which has a lion lying on top of it and is the only survivor of a street of nine houses; and the Rise Carr pub, which was built to quench the thirst of steelworkers in the nearby rolling mills.

The English Heritage inspector's report into whether Rise Carr should receive statutory protection reads: "The heads are well carved and painted. They seem to represent specific people but they have not been identified. They look more reminiscent of ship's figureheads than anything else. Unfortunately the architectural quality of the exterior of this pub does not match the high quality of these carvings."

It concludes: "In all, though this building does have these interesting carved heads, which are undeniably of real local historical interest, the remainder of the structure is not of high enough quality to warrant its listing."

Peter Wharton of Wharton Construction, a Darlington company which is applying for permission to demolish it, said: "This isn't just a case of a developer wanting to knock an old building down. We have been thwarted at every turn. We have sought interest from special needs user groups to convert it into six bedrooms with communal areas downstairs, but we have found none.

"I would be delighted to hear from any interested parties with the ideas and the finance to reclaim the pub."

He said the carved heads could be preserved although "our architect isn't in favour of having them built back into the gable end because it may look tacky".

However, following the failure of the council's attempt to have the building listed, planning officers will now be asking Wharton Construction to make the four new terraced homes fit in "as far as possible" with the demolished pub.

A spokesman for Darlington's newly-formed civic trust, which has been involved in negotiations to save the pub, said: "It is very disappointing that the building has not been listed. We would like to see it retained."