AN ICONIC Clevedon seafront hotel is being sold at auction next month.

The Royal Pier Hotel on Marine Parade has a guide price of £100,000 at the auction in London, £1.5m less than it was once on sale for.

News of the auction came in the same week as the hotel's current owners were ordered to carry out repair work to the crumbling building before winter sets in.

The notice gives the owners of the hotel – Royal Pier Hotel Developments – three weeks to comply with the work and, if it is not done, North Somerset Council can step in and carry out the work.

The auctioning of the hotel, organised by Allsop Residential between December 15 and 17, will not affect the urgent works notice, which will have to be carried out whether the building is sold or not.

Among the details on the auction sheet, the hotel is described as having potential for residential redevelopment. In September 2006, planning permission was granted to develop the former Blitz nightclub into 27 luxury flats, but this has lapsed.

Julia Elton of Clevedon Civic Society, said that she hopes the sale of the hotel will bring an end to "a long drawn-out and badly managed affair".

She said: "It has been a very sorry saga. The hotel was built as a piece with the pier, by the same architect, and people in Clevedon really care about it. It's held in great affection.

"Many people have forgotten what it used to be like and what it could be like again."

Before it can be anything, however, its current owners need to carry out urgent repair work. As well as making the building weatherproof, the owners have been told to make it safe from intruders. Despite previous requests to the owners to carry out the work over the past 12 months, nothing has been done.

The move to issue the notice follows mounting concern from North Somerset Council and English Heritage about the condition and safety of the historic 1869 building, which has become a target for vandals and arsonists over the past few years.

Only a few months ago, thieves got into the building and stole copper piping. Windows have been smashed, boards put over windows pulled off, and some of the metal fencing around the building has fallen down. The news that the issuing of the urgent works notice is imminent has been welcomed by Clevedon Pier.

Piermistress Linda Strong said: "This is really good news because the building has really deteriorated. Recently, during the bad weather conditions, we have been fearful of any loose objects from the building that could fall onto the pier. Work was supposed to be carried out months ago to make the building safe and I am glad that action is now being taken."