ALLERDALE Council has apologised to a parish council after an error left it unable to comment on contentious plans to demolish a village club which were approved.

Seaton Parish Council had received a letter from the authority which said it had until next Tuesday to give any representations on the Royal British Legion’s plans to demolish its former club in Seaton, but the county council gave the go-ahead to the proposals last week.

Danny Horsley, who is a councillor for Seaton on Allerdale and the parish council, said the latter was disappointed by the mistake.

The parish council had hoped to prove to Allerdale Council that the building had not been operated as a club, which Workington MP Mark Jenkinson had argued would change how the application would be considered. “We had a stack of evidence against the club, stating what it’s been used as for the past decade or so,” Coun. Horsley said. “The use was more as a walk-in public house than a club.

“A big bit of evidence coming from the parish council had no say in it at all through an error.”

A council spokesman said: “Although the planning regulations for this type of application do not require any formal consultation by the council, an informal consultation of the neighbouring properties was undertaken.

“We acknowledge there was an error in the letter sent to Seaton Parish Council in regards to the date we required their representations, should they wish to make any. We would like to apologise to them for this mistake.”

Coun Horsley, who believes a judicial review to challenge the demolition could cost £30,000, planned to speak to the Legion to try to save the building.

A spokesperson for the Royal British Legion said demolition plans would progress once Covid-19 restrictions were more widely lifted. It added: “We continue to take all enquiries for the site, so having demolition consent widens the potential opportunities.”