A COUNCIL boss has said he is delighted that an “eyesore” Bournemouth hotel has been reduced to rubble.

Cllr John Beesley said the owners of the Arron Diplomat Hotel on the West Cliff have demolished the empty building.

The crumbling property is used by squatters and targeted by arson attacks – police described it as a “deathtrap” in 2011.

The hotel had been empty for at least six years and Cllr Beesley, the council leader and a West Cliff ward member, said: “It has been frustrating for the residents and also the council.

“Every time you drove past and saw this eyesore you had to pinch yourself that it was still there.”

The building lies within a conservation area and could normally only be demolished if redevelopment started straight away.

The council gave the owners permission for demolition anyway because there is no imminent prospect of redevelopment due to the poor state of the economy.

Cllr Beesley said: “We would have been prepared to take it down ourselves and put a charge on the property.

“The owners have also agreed to keep the site secure.

“I am delighted we got there in the end.”

There is planning permission to build two blocks of residential and holiday flats on the site, which is on Durley Chine Road.

Matt Saunders, a partner in South Coast Demolition, who carried out the work for owners Sandpalm Properties, said: “It’s just a pile of rubble now and that will be cleared in a week or so.”