Bill Bryson was scathing about Harrogate House

Now Harrogate House on Parliament Street will be turned into a hotel, offices and flats.

American author Bill Bryson was not too complimentary about the building when he wrote his book Notes from a Small Island.

He described Harrogate House as "a Sixties block that rises, like some kind of half-witted practical joke, a dozen or so storeys into the air in a long street of innocuous Victorian structures".

Superb site

For the last four years the building has been owned by Wetherby-based property developers Oakgate.

Alison Stewart, Oakgate property developer, said: "We had developed the property to the point where it had planning permission for a hotel, offices and residences.

"It is a superb site - very well placed to benefit from Harrogate's conference centre, shops and leisure facilities."

She dismissed Mr Bryson's comments as "amusing".