Iconic Grade II-listed building sold for £2m at auction - but is being used as a CAR WASH

An iconic Grade II-listed building in Edgware went up for auction with a guide price of £2,000,000 - but is now being used as a CAR WASH.

Mock Tudor landmark The Railway Hotel, in Station Road, Edgware, is "rotting away" despite being listed for sale complete with planning permission to create a 90-bedroom hotel.

The Railway was built in the 1920s, but was closed in the early 2000s and has remained derelict until property went up for auction in August 2017, but it is not being used for its intended purpose.

Barnet Council issued an enforcement notice after receiving a complaint that the building was being used as a hand car wash, without planning permission.

Resident Mark Amies set up a petition to protect the landmark in 2016, after a fire left a portion of the ground floor ruined.

He said: "This building needs putting back to a community use rather than rotting away.

"I think it's sad that a building that was so much part of Edgware's history, and that has a special place in the publics' hearts - a place that people had fun, met friends, and potential partners - has been left to deteriorate.

"The fact that it has had a number of different owners since it closed, none of whom have done anything with it, is shameful."

Two further complaints have been made which are currently pending consideration; they are for the demolition of boundary walls to a Listed Building and the erection of a metal gate without listed building consent and the use of the site as a coach stop, with associated advertisements, without planning permission.

The Change.org petition to protect the building now has more than 2,000 signatures.

The latest petition update reads: "After all this time, the is building is still at risk.

"Since I set (the petition) up, a new owner took over. However all they did was lease it out to a second hand car dealer, a European coach firm and a car wash business.

"Currently a window on the first floor has been left open for months, allowing cold, damp and birds to get in.

"This building needs putting back into use so the community can enjoy it."

A Barnet Council spokesperson said: "The council has served three formal notices on the owners of the building; one requiring them to make improvements and repairs to the historic fabric of the building, one to cease the use of the land for car sales and one to cease the use of the land for car washing.

"The sale of cars has already stopped, but there is still time to run on the other notices before further action can be taken.

"We are also investigating an allegation that a boundary wall has been knocked down."

Historic England was contacted for comment.

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