CARE home bosses have been urged to redevelop a dilapidated former pub.

The boarded-up former Coaching House, in Glen View Road, Burnley, has become a magnet for vandals since it closed last year.

Earlier this month, councillors rejected an application by owners Sage Care Homes, which bought the pub from Thwaites, to transform it into a 55-bed facility after fears were raised by residents over potential traffic problems.

Since then, slates have been stolen from the roof and it has been vandalised.

Now Sage bosses have been urged to sell the building or submit a new application so it can be returned to use.

Coun Roger Frost is Burnley Council’s executive member for planning and chairman of the town’s civic society. He said: “You don’t want a building like that dilapidated but we want the right approach to it being redeveloped. Residents had genuine concerns and these need to be addressed by the applicant.

“The building could be retained but it would have to be residential or as a pub, which might not be sustain-able given that it shut down. We don’t want to see build-ings vacant and damaged.”

Coun Charles Bullas, whose ward covers the Coaching House, added: “Something needs to done. It has been stripped down, people are taking stuff .

“If it becomes any more run down it will become even more of an eyesore than it already is.”

Burnley Council’s develop-ment control committee earlier this month rejected the bid to renovate the Coaching House, saying the plans would have created a facility “reminiscent of Alcatraz”.

Today, a spokeswoman for Sage Care Homes said owner Saeed Ahmad was unavailable to comment on future plans.

However, it would soon be better secured to deter vandals, she added.