Owners of a derelict hotel on the outskirts of Ottery St Mary have revealed plans to preserve the building before it is ‘irretrievably damaged’.

Jirehouse Capital, solicitors acting on behalf of the Salston Manor’s owners, secured permission to convert the site into 25 flats in early 2014, but construction work has yet to begin.

Documents recently submitted to East Devon District Council (EDDC) outline the developer’s plans to save the structure from further decay with provision for an additional four flats.

The paperwork says that the building is ‘currently in extremely poor condition and at risk of irretrievable damage’.

It adds that the amendments are proposed to ‘promote the historic place in to the future’.

The new layout makes space for 12 flats, instead of the previously approved eight, inside the historic hotel building.

The amended plans will be considered at a meeting of Ottery Town Council on Monday, January 19, before a decision is made by EDDC.