A COMPANY which is in the process of building a gin distillery and visitor centre in Laverstoke, has applied for listed building consent to repair and restore various buildings on the site.

Bombay Spirits Company was granted permission ear-lier this year to convert Laverstoke Mill, in London Road, as part of a multi-million-pound project to turn the site into a major tourist attraction. Now, it has applied to the borough council to ask to repair, restore and re-use parts of a listed building and other buildings for the distillery, visitor centre, shop, cafe and bar.

It said the additional works “supplement” the planning approval granted earlier this year. The Bombay Sapphire site, which is hoped will attract 100,000 visitors, is expected to be complete by September next year. The ‘heritage facility’ will celebrate the history of the mill site, complete with a glass floor through which the original horizontal water wheel can be viewed.