A DULL acceptance that the former House of Lords site in Barrow will have to be demolished has crept over the town.

A new feasibility report has listed a number of 'opportunities' for the Grade II-listed House of Lords building in Abbey Road. 

The privately owned property was gutted by fire in 2017.

The feasibility report was commissioned by Barrow Borough Council last year, using funding from the £1.1 million High Street Heritage Action Zone grant awarded by English Heritage in 2019.

It suggested that any change of use would be down to the current or potential future owners of the land, but suggested that it could be partly rebuilt; repurposed for pop-up pods within the site to offer coffee, street food or bookable meeting rooms; a mix of residential units and community spaces; or the place of a new public realm.

And the overwhelming response has been one of sadness that it has come to this, but also curiosity as to what could replace it.

 Lee Thompson said: "Sad to say it has been left that long, it has just gone to ruin - all you can do is demolish it.

"And maybe rebuild a small museum of the history the building stood for in the past."

LA590 said: "For the love of God, just bulldoze it.

"It is an eyesore!"

frank kendall said: "It is time this mess was gone...and also the overhang of the cry pub on Cornwallis Street is just about ready to fall and kill a passerby.

"And has this town got no budget for weedkiller? The streets are being reclaimed by overgrowth.

"It is a total disgrace and my home town has become a dump."

Charlie Dowthwaite said: "Yes, pull it down as it is an eyesore. It should have been demolished immediately after the fire."

Barrow Borough Council has issued an advisory letter pursuant to section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act, requesting the current owners of the House of Lords building clear debris and vegetation from areas of the site.