A DERELICT pub in Somerton which once served as Newport County’s changing rooms will be knocked down.

A plan to demolish The King on Somerton Road was passed by Newport City councillors yesterday.

And now a nursing home will be built on the site. It will provide full-time jobs to 16 staff.

Allan Morris, a ward councillor for Lliswerry, said: “There will be a huge sigh of relief. It has been a constant source of complaint from people living in the vicinity.

“The sooner it’s redeveloped the better.”

He said he hoped this would not be another false dawn for the site. Over the past ten years, two other plans had been submitted the council for planning but nothing came of them.

Before 1912, when Newport County’s Somerton Park did not have changing rooms, their players used The King as a place to prepare for their matches and change into their kit.

And The King building and its land were sold at an auction to Anjum Hussain and Amit Patel on May 9 this year for approximately £140,000. Its guide price was £60,000.

Mr Hussain told the South Wales Argus in September: “We are excited about the proposed development of a state of the art care home in Newport. This will remove a long-standing eyesore.”

The planned care home will have 60 en-suite bedrooms, a foyer, managers’ office, communal lounges, kitchen, treatment rooms and drug stores.

There will also be 15 car spaces, a bin store, cycle parking and a garden area outside the home.

All 117 properties that lie within 50 metres of the site were consulted of the plan and there were no objections. One response was received in favour of the development.

The King had been placed on Newport City Council’s Vacant and Derelict Commercial Properties list last year and was sold at Paul Fosh Auctions in Newport.