A SHIPLEY pub that dates back to 1840 could be facing its final days, as plans to demolish the building are likely to be approved next week.

Oddfellows Hall has been an imposing sight in Shipley for almost 180 years, but in recent years the pub has been empty, and fallen into a poor state.

The building was broken into twice in a month earlier this year.

Next Wednesday Bradford Council will decide whether the building’s owners can demolish the building, and officers have recommended the plans be approved, saying the building is in such a state it is unlikely it will ever be re-used as a pub.

Earlier this year Red Box Asset Management began demolition work on the three storey building, on Otley Road, but were ordered to halt by Bradford Council. Recent legislation means that pubs cannot be knocked down without planning permission, a rule the owners said they were not aware of when they began demolition work. Work stopped, and a planning application to demolish Oddfellows was submitted.

The application will be decided by the Council’s Keighley and Shipley Area Committee next Wednesday.

Despite 17 people objecting to the plans, members of the committee will be recommended to approve the demolition.

A report by planning officers that will be presented to the panel says since demolition work was halted: “The building has been subject to further thefts, including stripping the remaining roof slates, and the owner has had to improve security of the boarded over windows and other openings to try to prevent access by vandals.

“The police are said to have been called out to attend on at least two occasions in recent months when the property has been broken into on July 17 and June 18.

“Pub losses can become an emotive issue with local residents due to the past use and attachments. In this case, however, the Oddfellows Hotel has not functioned as a public house for many years, the building having been bought as an empty building by the current owner in 2014 after presumably having failed to attract interest from a public house operator. The applicant says it was in a period of decline as a viable public house for some years before purchase.

“The loss of a locally distinctive building is always regretted, and there may be detriment to the local sense of place and historic character, but the lack of any protected heritage designation clearly presents a problem in terms of what weight can be given to the retention of the building and justifying refusal of permission for demolition. The extremely poor condition of the interior would seriously diminish prospects for re-use and must be of particular significance in this respect.

The owners have previously told the Telegraph & Argus that an application for housing on the site was likely to be submitted once the demolition has taken place.

Shipley MP Philip Davies said he was supportive of the plans to demolish the building. He said; “I think we have to be realistic about the likelihood of the pub being re-opened.

“If you want to stop people building on green belt land you can’t be objecting to plans to build on brownfield sites.”

In June the same planning panel voted to approve plans to demolish the nearby Branch Pub on Bradford Road to make way for a future road improvement scheme.

The committee will meet at Keighley Town Hall at 10am.