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Premier Inn approved for town centre M&S site

Whitbread A computer-generated image shows how the new modern-looking buildings would look against the existing scene of the shopping street. Next door is an ornate Victorian building with a green Poundland shop front at ground level. The new buildings have grey stone lower floors with large windows. The upper floors are brick with grey stone window surrounds.Whitbread
A computer-generated imaged shows how the new hotel buildings would look

Plans to demolish a former town centre Marks and Spencer store and replace it with a hotel have been approved.

The M&S store in Dorchester's South Street closed in February 2020 and its building fell into disrepair.

Whitbread, which purchased the site in 2023, has been granted permission to build a 102-bedroom Premier Inn, which would be within the town's conservation area.

The company, which already has a Premier Inn in nearby Brewery Square, said the new hotel would bring £3m to the local economy.

Google Google Street View looking up at the building facades above the old Marks and Spencer store. The 1930s building on the left is three storeys and the upper floors have sash windows. The Victorian building on the right is four storeys and of pale grey brick. The first floor has two large bay windows, above that are two large sash windows and the top floor has two dormer windows jutting from the roof.Google
Both the Victorian and 1930s buildings would be demolished

The site is currently made up of two buildings - one was built in the 1930s to replace the previous Marks and Spencer store.

The shop was later extended into the adjoining Victorian building in the 1960s.

During construction in 1936, workmen found what became known as the Dorchester Hoard - a cache of 22,000 Roman coins buried in the foundations of a Roman house.

The new hotel would have entrances both on South Street and Trinity Street.

Dorset Council's planning officer's report acknowledged that "demand for a continued retail unit utilising the same floor area is very limited in the current market and in this location".

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