CONSTRUCTION of a 127-bedroom hotel in the heart of Barrow is set to begin after an archaeological study was completed.
Barrow Borough Council granted permission at the end of 2016 for the Holiday Inn Express hotel and restaurant on the site of the former Barrow police station on the corner of Market Street and Duke Street.
After permission was granted the council said an archaeological exploration of the area must be carried out before work can begin.
The site is based in the original village of Barrow and reports submitted to Barrow Borough Council this week state the area was originally an open field crossed by a track.
It was first developed as a fire station and open market and included the rear gardens for residential properties to the south of the site.
In 1956 the police station and magistrates' court was opened, refurbished in 1998, and then closed in 2015 when its £8m replacement opened in Andrews Way.
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