A PLAN to build a hotel on the site of the village from which the biggest town in the county grew has been given the green light by councillors, subject to an archaeological exploration.

It is now hoped that experts can now find out more about the origins of Barrow before the hotel is built.

Barrow Borough Council's planning committee met on Tuesday to discuss a proposal to build a 127-bed Holiday Inn Express hotel and restaurant on the site of the former Barrow police station on the corner of Market Street and Duke Street.

Concerns were expressed about the architecture of the building with Councillor John Murphy likening the original design to a "prison."

However, alterations have since been made in a bid to make the building fit in more with the surrounding architecture and councillors unanimously agreed to give the project the go-ahead.

With permission being granted, planners must now carry out an archaeological exploration of the area, which is based in the original village of Barrow.

Jeremy Parsons, a historic environment officer for Cumbria County Council, believes that this is a great chance to discover archaeological remains before the site is built upon.

He said: "It is completely unknown. We have not looked in Barrow's centre before so this is a unique opportunity."

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Archaeological work planned at site of proposed new Barrow hotel