A REDUNDANT 1980s office block is being razed to the ground to make way for a new hotel.

Developer Fishron was granted planning permission in March, from Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, to build a five-story hotel at the site in Victoria Street, at Top of The Town.

The bulldozers have since arrived and work is underway to demolish Barclay House and replace it with an 81-bedroom hotel, to be occupied by Premier Inn Hotels.

The hotel, which is expected to open next year, will include a ground floor restaurant.