THE former Bridgwater Community Hospital is up for sale with planning permission for a 100-bed hotel, a restaurant and a nursery.

Property consultants Alder King and LSH have been appointed to handle the sale of the property off a guide price of £2.6 million.

NHS Property Services sold the freehold of the site in January 2017 to a local businessman who subsequently secured planning permission on the two acre site for a hotel, a children’s day nursery, a restaurant and health club.

Andrew Maynard, partner at Alder King’s Taunton office, said: “This is a highly attractive regeneration proposition 400m from the town centre coming back to the market with the added benefit of planning permission.

“The consent allows for the demolition and redevelopment of the three storey main building into a prestigious 100-bed hotel, retaining the landmark Georgian façade and its attractive stone porch. A new hotel will be a great asset to the town which is experiencing strong demand for hotel accommodation on the back of the Hinkley Point C development.

“The remaining buildings on the site are of various age and have consent for demolition and redevelopment as a health club, restaurant and children’s day nursery but equally the site has potential for other uses such as a drive-thru restaurant, leisure or residential, subject to revised planning consent.”

The original hospital was established in 1820 and saw a number of additions over the next 75 years and more modern additions during the 1990s.

The hospital closed in 2014 and was replaced with a new community hospital in Bower Lane, Bridgwater.

The main frontage of the property faces the River Parrott and Salmon Parade, an attractive tree-lined street with a number of character properties.