Cliff-top lighthouse set to become bed and breakfast » Local Government » 24dash.com

A Grade-II listed lighthouse commanding a cliff-top position facing the English Channel could be turned into a bed and breakfast by its potential new owners, it emerged today.

The Belle Tout lighthouse at Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, was put up for sale this year with a guide price of £850,000 after being sold by the local borough council for  £900 in 2001.

Now an application has been submitted to planning officers on Eastbourne Borough Council to turn the 175-year-old landmark from a residential property into a bed and breakfast.

In the application from the Belle Tout Lighthouse Preservation Fund, it says that the exterior and interior of the building will not be changed in any way.

It adds that the Belle Tout previously provided bed and breakfast accommodation to guests and it is to be the same three rooms that are to be used.

No major works are intended on the grounds, which falls within an area of outstanding natural beauty on the famous downland slopes of Beachy Head, the fund adds.

In his statement to the council, trustee and chairman of the fund Rob Wassell said: "Without planning permission our objectives will not be able to be met and therefore we will need to withdraw our plans for the purchase of the property."

Andrew Battams, a planning officer at the borough council, said the idea of turning the lighthouse into a bed and breakfast was supported in principle by officers.

But he added that a current lack of car parking space and vehicle access on the site means they are recommending the application be rejected when councillors meet.

Built in 1832, the Belle Tout was decommissioned 70 years later. Eight years ago it was in danger of succumbing to coastal erosion and was moved around 60ft inland.

It is currently a six-bedroom residential property owned by Louise Roberts and featured in the 1986 television drama series The Life And Loves Of A She Devil and BBC's Changing Rooms.

Earlier this year, the Belle Tout Lighthouse Preservation Trust was formed to raise enough money to buy it and open it up to the general public.

Copyright Press Association 2007

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