YET another Teignmouth hotel and pub could be turned into flats if planners give their approval for a conversion application.

The owners of the seven-bedroom Ivy House Hotel in Ivy Lane want to demolish part of the existing hotel, retaining the old Ivy House, and build 10 self-contained residential flats with car parking.

The pub section – with its lounge bar, 40-seat restaurant and cellar bar/function room – would also disappear in the changes.

The news follows last week's announcement that Teignmouth's largest remaining hotel, the London Hotel in Bank Street, could also become a block of flats.

Ivy House co-owner Tim Kirby said that he and his partner Sally Roby were losing £1,000 per week.

'Our decision is a purely commercial one,' he said. 'We can't make a living either as a pub or as a hotel and we've got to do what we can. People don't want to stay in places like this any more. They want self-catering, like they can get in Spain.'

Mr Kirby said that there were too many pubs in Teignmouth, all chasing the same business.

'Eighty per cent of our income comes from selling booze, and only 20 from paying guests, when we can get them,' he said. 'Our competitors will welcome our closure, as will our neighbours, who don't like noise from pubs.'

Town and district councillor Geoff Bladon said that it would be a very sad day for Teignmouth if two more hotels were forced to close their doors.

'Over the last 38 years I have watched many hotels shut, and be converted into guest houses or private accommodation,' he said. 'The whole issue of hotel conversion needs to be examined in depth.'

Cllr Bladon said that the decisions on the London and Ivy House applications should be made by the members of Teignbridge's development control committee, and not by council officers.