CORRECTION - An earlier version of this story was published stating that Warwick District Council had not responded in the allotted time frame to the prior approval application.

This was incorrect and the article has now been amended to show that planning officers responded within the allotted 28 days, in order to put conditions on the application before approval was given.

Nub News apologies for the mistake.

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The district council has said it made attempts to save the Woodside Hotel and Conference Centre from demolition, before prior approval was granted last week for the former mansion house to be knocked down.

Vistry Partnership West Midlands submitted an application to flatten the closed 74-bed venue at the end of March, as it looks to redevelop the site into homes.

Kenilworth Town Council's (KTC) planning committee was due to give its view on the scheme on Thursday, April 27 - but the application was approved that day before town councillors were able to discuss the plans.

A Warwick District Council (WDC) spokesperson told Nub News that unlike normal planning applications, in this instance the council only had 28 days to respond to the prior approval request.

In this case, the 28 days elapsed on April 27 - the day of the town council meeting.

The district council said the requests for comment from KTC and other local bodies were sent out late "due to a delay in processing this application".

The council did grant prior approval for the demolition within the time period, subject to the developer completing a bat survey and ecological survey.

The spokesperson said: "Warwick District Council made a number of informal approaches to try to save the building, but as an authority we have no statutory protection against the prior approval process and as the legal framework stands, little ability to prevent its demolition."

They added: "In the case of the Woodside Hotel, prior approval is required for the method of demolition and any proposed restoration of the site only, there are no other planning considerations that can be taken into consideration with this form of prior approval.

"Although the Woodside Hotel is a locally listed building, the status of the building had no bearing on the outcome of the submission."

Vistry has also submitted a second application to demolish the hotel and turn it into 55 homes.

This application is yet to be considered.

WDC also said that its housing company, Milverton Homes - which is investing £60 million in a separate housing scheme with Vistry - had "no involvement or influence" over the prior approval application being signed off.

Last year an application to demolish the hotel was submitted by Crewe Lane Kenilworth JV LLP - a company made up of Vistry and Milverton Homes. That application was rejected.

Locals started a last minute petition to save the hotel last week, which received around 400 signatures - but it came as prior approval was being granted.