Works to begin at Great Yarmouth's derelict Star Hotel

Repairs on Great Yarmouth's celebrated Star Hotel are expected to begin next week, as the authorities try to preserve the grade II listed building which has become a hive of criminal activity.

Since it closed in 2020, the Hall Quay site has been the target of several arson attacks and repeated antisocial behaviour as it was taken over as a hideout for county lines gangs.

Now, surveys and repairs will be carried out to the once-celebrated hotel's interior and roof after the council secured the premises earlier this year.

Police on Hall Quay following a raid inside the Star Hotel's neighbouring property, the former NatWest branch. (Image: James Weeds)Signs warning people using the hotel's rear car park on Howard Street South have been issued, stating survey works will begin next Friday.

People have been told to park at their own risk while contractors access the building.

A Great Yarmouth Borough Council spokesman said: "The council now intends to survey the Star Hotel to ascertain the scope of the work required to preserve the building and prevent further decay.

Notice of upcoming survey works at Great Yarmouth's Star Hotel. (Image: James Weeds)

"This will include work inside the hotel and to its roof, as well as securing the building to further prevent unauthorised access and further damage."

The spokesman added that the Star Hotel's freeholder was informed last year that works were required.

Metal shutters were installed on the ground floor of the Star Hotel earlier in year. (Image: James Weeds)Since closing at the start of the first Covid lockdown, the Star Hotel has fallen on hard times.

The Grade II-listed building was sold for £1,000 to Maltese company 36644 Ltd and each room was then sold off to pay for the building's renovation.

Four years later, the renovations have yet to happen.

Instead, the once-prominent building - which was a regular haunt by the likes of Lord Nelson - has become a hotbed for crime, including arson, drug use and gang activity.

FLASHBACK: Firefighters and the police were called to the Star Hotel on Hall Quay on Wednesday, August 24, 2022. (Image: James Weeds)In risk assessments carried out before the works, Norfolk Fire and Rescue and the police said they would only enter the building if there were a risk to life, as repeated fires over the years have made the structure's integrity unpredictable.

Metal shutters were installed around the ground floor at the beginning of the year, with a council member describing the hotel's parent company as an "unscrupulous business" at January's borough council cabinet meeting.

The council pledged £81,000 to secure the premises and to carry out repairs to the hotel's interior and roof.

People parking their cars behind the Star Hotel have been warned of the upcoming survey works. (Image: James Weeds)