Town centre B&B to expand after rejection overturned

A plan to demolish a town centre building and replace it with a larger one for a cafe and a bed and breakfast has been permitted after a council initially rejected it.

La Baguette had applied to Reading Borough Council to demolish the two-storey building in Blagrave Street, keep its façade and then build a five-storey replacement for the cafe and 15 B&B rooms.

But the authority rejected the project after it said it would be "an imposing and unsympathetic development" and would harm the setting of the Grade II listed Reading Town Hall opposite.

But the Planning Inspectorate approved the application after finding it would not have an adverse impact.