AN historic Worcestershire hotel remains permanently closed after the coronavirus pandemic saw it go out of business.

Chateau Impney, near Droitwich, closed permanently back in March 2020 as the lockdown hit the hospitality sector.

Despite the closure, some businesses still remain on-site, though the hotel remains closed. There is an AirBnB listing at the iconic building, as well as a classic car company which still operates out of the site.

Earlier this year the Impney Estate, the company in charge of the site, applied to Wychavon District Council for permission to install additional security gates to keep intruders out.

In the plans, the applicants said they had experienced anti-social behaviour and wanted to protect the businesses on site.

Their planning documents said: “In March 2020, the Chateau Impney Hotel & Exhibition Centre permanently closed as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“On closure, we experienced anti-social behaviour and damage to property, as such immediate security measures were required.

“Whilst the hotel has ceased trading, there are other businesses still operating from the Impney Estate.

“Manual gates proved, even in the short term, an unviable option, ie when closed and locked, business customers could not access the Impney Estate, impacting on the trade of the tenant businesses, along with impacting on the residential tenants’ and residential neighbours’ access to their properties, however if left open, this posed a security risk to the Impney Estate, which, as mentioned above, includes a Grade II* listed property."

Councillors approved the plans when they met on March 9 this year.

One of the most popular county events, the Chateau Impney Hill Climb, was due to take place in the summer of 2020, but this too had to be cancelled due to the pandemic and closure of the hotel.

The Chateau Impney building was built between 1873 and 1875 and was commissioned by John Corbett MP with a brief to design a grand chateau in the style of Louis XIII.

Since then it was turned into a hotel, being taken over by Grefyfort (The Impney Estate) in 2012 and extensively refurbished.

This included refitting 25 rooms in the main Chateau and nine apartments in the old stable block.

In March 2020 the owners announced the hotel would be closing permanently as a result of Covid-19.