A HISTORIC mansion in Brent has been earmarked to be demolished.

Brent Council formally approved permission to knock derelict Dollis Hill House down at a meeting last night.

The decision will now be referred to the Secretary of State for Community and Local Government, who will decide whether the demolition of the listed building should go ahead.

The mansion housed guests such as the 19th Century Prime Minister William Gladstone and American author Mark Twain.

Plans to transform the mansion into a tea-room and restaurant were scrapped and the campaign to save the building took another blow when Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, announced he would not pledge any money to its proposed generation.

The former mayor, Ken Livingstone, had promised to part-fund the restoration of the 200-year-old building.

Councillor James Powney, lead member for environment, planning and culture, said: "It costs £20,000 a year to maintain Dollis Hill House in its present derelict state and keep it safe. Unfortunately, Brent Council cannot afford £5 million to restore it, or subsidise someone else to manage it.

The council has spent 16 years looking for a viable future for Dollis Hill House but sadly none has emerged."