Huddies Ltd revealed it is 'fully committed' to developing the former Shannocks Hotel site.

The owners of a seafront property in Sheringham branded a blight on the landscape have revealed they are fully committed to developing the site.

Huddies Ltd has submitted a planning application to North Norfolk District Council (NNDC) to demolish the town's former Shannocks Hotel, which has stood empty at the end of the High Street for several years.

The company issued a statement on its plans after the local authority agreed a plan to compulsory purchase the site in a bid to save the dilapidated building.

A spokesperson for Huddies Ltd said: 'We appreciate the public concern surrounding the site and an application to demolish the existing structure was submitted to the local authority at the end of April.

'We have appointed a team of architects and surveyors to formulate our own development proposals whilst the existing structure is demolished, and we will continue to work closely with North Norfolk District Council to realise these proposals and to achieve the best result for the site and the town. We are fully committed to developing the site.'

Councillor Judy Oliver, NNDC's Cabinet member for legal services, said the council had an open mind about the future use of the site and the first priority was to submit a viable planning application.

'We will do all in our power to improve the Shannocks Hotel site in Sheringham,' said Mrs Oliver. 'It's a blight on the town and we will appoint architects to develop a financially viable design which will help to regenerate the site.'

She added: 'The council will not hesitate to use all the powers we have to improve north Norfolk for the benefit of the community and in this case the owner has left the building stand empty and failed to improve it.

'Applying for a compulsory purchase order is the last resort but, just as we have done for other properties, it is an option we will use when and if we need to.'

Councillors heard a budget of £50,000 would be established to prepare a planning application.

A spokesperson for Huddies Ltd added: 'We welcome Ms Oliver's comments that applying for a compulsory purchase order should only be done as a last resort.'