THE long-anticipated redevelopment of a landmark Leigh hotel is finally under way after years of wrangling.

The Bell Hotel, which has been empty for two decades, now has workmen on site at Leigh Hill after nine years of planning issues for developers Robin Levy and son Ben.

The hotel itself, which is structurally sound, but in a state of disrepair, will form one part of the multi-million pound Bell Sands flats development – just a stone’s throw from Leigh’s historic Old Town.

The plan also includes three four-storey blocks to be built behind it, on the edge of the railway line, in a pastel beach hut style, with each named after one of Old Leigh’s four wharfs.

With exploratory work already under way and piling foundations for the new blocks due to be laid shortly, the entire development is expected to be completed by December 2015. It will offer large luxurious flats with views of the Thames Estuary and the beach at Bell Wharf.

Ben, 29, said: “The sheer complexity of the site is what has held it up over the past nine years, mostly because of the slope and the railway line.

“However, fortunately, the Bell building itself is in good structural condition.

“We’ll be putting a new roof on, new floors, balconies with wrought iron railings and will be excavating a new floor for a basement flat. The Bell will be the last part of the development.”

Today, however, the hotel is decorated only by graffiti and inhabited solely by pigeons – though “hundreds” more had made it their home until they were cleared out in the summer, Ben said.

The ground floor also has a large hole with a sheer drop into the cellar following a fire believed to have been lit by squatters.

Ben, who has been working on the development for five years, said he and his father had gone into the development much like any other nine years ago.

But because of the continuous delays, it had become personal.

He said: “We’ve had countless offers from other developers to buy the site off us, but we’ve put so much work into it now that it’s not about the money any more – we just want to get it done.”