THE owner of an independent hotel close to Malvern town centre has put in an application to turn it into housing.

The application, from Stephen Allerston of the Pembridge Hotel, Graham Road, is the second such proposal in a matter of weeks.

But other hotel owners say trade is good, with a stream of visitors coming to Malvern.

In June, the Malvern Gazette reported that the owner of the Montrose Hotel, also in Graham Road, put in a similar application.

In the latest application, Mr Allerston said: "We have tried to sell the guest house as a going-concern B and B since September 2016 through specialist hotel agents Colliers International with absolutely no interest."

His experience reflects that of Montrose owner Richard Simmonds, who put it on the market for over a year as a hotel without success. He too has applied for conversion, though retaining part of the building as a holiday let.

The last visitor study in the Malvern Hills District was in 2015, when over 3.4 million trips were undertaken to and within the district. 3.3 million of these were day trips and almost 200,000 were overnight visits.

Simon Smith, economic development manager for Malvern Hills District Council said: “We are aware that the property has been marketed, and in line with policy we will be examining the supporting evidence supplied to justify any proposed change of use.”

Alexandra Thornton-Hopwood of Sidney House, Worcester Road, said: "We've only been here 18 months, so I haven't much to compare it to, but the couple we took it over from had a good trade for 20 years.

"We've had more long-stayers than last year, three or four night as compared to single nights. The great thing about Malvern seems to be that it's a year-round trade, not just seasonal."

Elizabeth Rolph of Dell House, Green Lane, Malvern Wells, said: "We've got four B and B rooms and three self-catering, and we get quite a lot of groups staying. Over the weekend we had a group of 19 and a group of eight the week before.

"We've been here three years and the trade has been growing in that time. It can be difficult to sell B and Bs though. There are not many people in the market for them at any one time, so if someone can't sell one, it does not necessarily mean there's a problem with tourism."