SIX apartments could be built on the site of a former pub in Hereford, if plans are approved by the council.

Planning permission has been applied for to build a single three storey building on Widemarsh Common, with the site alongside the A49 Newtown Road.

Plans include 12 new car parking spaces, bin and cycle storage facilities and new access.

The site was formerly occupied by the Sportsman pub, which was demolished in 2011. In the years leading up to the demolition, arsonists targeted the building twice in the space of a month and in 2009 the pub’s legendary sign, depicting cricket hero WG Grace, who is said to have played on the nearby Widemarsh Common, was stolen.

At the time, owner Guy Taylor believed the Sportsman on Widemarsh Common could have been replaced with another drinking venue.

In 2016, the land's new owners submitted outline planning permission to Herefordshire Council to build a new pub on the site, but was turned down.