The facade of a listed hotel has had to be propped up after cracks appeared in its wall.
Wealden District Council had to step in and close the pavement and road in front of the Maiden’s Head Hotel in Uckfield High Street after trying and failing to contact its owner.
Land Registry records show it was bought in 2000 by Peter Victor Shaw. In 2010 Mr Shaw applied to put a metal gate across the front door to stop “patrons” of the neighbouring pub damaging it.
Since then, no changes have been made, and the frontage has slowly deteriorated.
The council said: “The condition of the front wall was brought to the attention of Wealden District Council Building Control by a local resident on 4 February 2025. Since then, several further residents have contacted us with their concerns.
“Site visits by a qualified building inspector have been taking place since the 4 February to assess and monitor the situation. Our primary concern throughout is public safety.
“After exhaustive but unsuccessful attempts to contact the owner, it was decided to use our emergency powers under section 78 of the building Act 1984 to take such action as necessary and reasonable to remove this potential danger.
“On 20 March a report was commissioned and received from a qualified structural engineer and this confirmed the need to provide temporary support to the façade of the building.
“A temporary highway closure was put in place by East Sussex Highways on the 20 March to provide protection to the public whilst the situation could be further reviewed with a private contractor engaged by the East Sussex Building Control Partnership.
“Giving consideration to the listed status of the building, local businesses and lack of access, temporary support will be provided in the afternoon of 21 March from the exterior only.
“This will need to extend onto the public highway. This will involve partial closure of the road and traffic management, but will enable local businesses to stay open and also provide access on the opposite pavement for pedestrians.
“This will temporarily remove any danger to the public however further actions will be required involving repair to provide a permanent solution and remove these restrictions.”
