Wetherspoon in bid to convert old Lutterworth police station into a pub

The Grade II-listed buildings, on the corner of Leicester Road and Gilmorton Road, also include a former police house and a former magistrates court, and date back to 1843.

The pub chain JD Wetherspoon, which has more than 900 pubs in the UK and Ireland, wants to convert the complex of early Victorian buildings into a large pub.

The proposed pub would employ 15 people, the planning application says.

A heritage impact assessment prepared by Heritage and Design Consultant Karen Pritchard says: “This is a vacant site within the town centre and conservation area, that has lost its original use.

“The proposal is to alter the use and to bring all the buildings back into one coherent function for the public to 
enjoy.” The consultant says the pub plan “will make a positive and vibrant impact to one end of the town centre, whilst respecting the significance of the built heritage.”

The consultant concludes that a “respectfully developed site is preferential to the current empty public buildings”.

Cllr Philip Toye, of the town council’s Planning Committee, said there had been rumours for some time that Wetherspoon were looking for a site in Lutterworth.

But he said: “It wouldn’t be right to say anything about this application until we’ve had our planning meeting.”

The final decision on the planning application will be taken by Harborough district council planners.

Lutterworth police station was once considered England’s oldest serving purpose-built police station, until it closed at the end of 2013. The police retain a small office in the complex.

Many existing Wetherspoon pubs are conversions of historic buildings. They include theatres, cinemas, banks, post offices, churches and even a former swimming pool in Sheffield.