DEMOLITION is under way at a Bournemouth hotel to make way for a £40 million hotel and apartments development.

The Belvedere Hotel, gutted by fire last year, will be replaced by an upmarket Malmaison hotel and a block of flats.

Building will get under way in the new year when the site, in Bath Road, has been cleared.

The Belvedere is almost 160-years-old and was built as an Italian-style villa, in keeping with other properties in the area at the time.

It has undergone many alterations since then and has been empty for two years.

In June last year it was gutted by a fire, believed to be accidental. Seven people, thought to be rough sleepers, were rescued from the building by firefighters.

Malmaison Hotel du Vin and Fresh Lime Developments plan to open a new hotel on the site. Fresh Lime will also build a block of flats.

Permission for the development was granted earlier this year despite opposition from some councillors and hoteliers who were concerned that the plans have only 11 parking spaces designated for the hotel.

Malmaison, which described itself as a luxury boutique hotel chain, has 16 others across the UK and says the new hotel will create around 85 jobs.

The plans include 100 bedrooms and sites, a Chez Mal Bar and Brasserie, a rooftop bar and terrace overlooking the seafront, a gy, swimmin gpool and beauty spa rooms.

Building work at the site is expected to take around two years.