A DERELICT former pub has been demolished to make way for a new care home.

The Spring Meadow in Mulberry Tree Hill, Droitwich – which has been closed since 2014 – was being demolished earlier this week, with a 70-bed care home set to replace it.

Wychavon District Council approved developer Frontier Estate Ltd’s plans in March – with the care home to create more than 50 jobs and include a cinema and gym.

County councillor Richard Morris, representing Droitwich West, called the plans a “good solution” and said the old pub was “looking decrepit and doesn’t support the area as it is”.

Speaking at the decision meeting, Frontier director Max Paddock, said research shows 370 care beds are needed within a 10-mile radius “and this is only going to increase”.

“It is no secret that we have an ageing population,” he continued, adding that 53 full-time jobs will be created on a shift pattern, with staff not sleeping on-site.

Mr Paddock add that he expected staff to “mostly come from the local area”.

Speaking to the Worcester News, Cllr Morris went on to say it “would have been great” if it could have remained a functioning pub, but praised Frontier.

“The developers have been very good consulting with the public in what they wanted there,” he said.

“I asked for a function room because there is nowhere to run public meetings in the area, and they have supported that. The care home is a good solution.”

The old pub was constructed in the 1980s and was a part single, part two-storey structure – while the care home is set to spread across three floors.

Not everyone was pleased with the decision, however. One resident, who has lived in the Newlands area for 36 years, wrote to the council to say: “It was always recorded that the area of land on which the Spring Meadow is located should only ever be used for use of the community.

“Please can you explain how a 70-bed private nursing home is for community use?”