Plans have been approved to remove an indoor swimming pool from a flat once lived in by a famous actress.
The application was made for the Pool Flat on Marine Parade, Brighton, which used to be a part of the Clarges Hotel – an establishment formerly owned by the actress Dora Bryan.
Bryan, who won the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress for her role in the 1961 film A Taste of Honey, previously owned and lived in the hotel along with her husband, former Lancashire cricketer Bill Lawton.
The property was formerly run as the Clarges Hotel (Image: Google)
For many years, the couple operated Clarges as a hotel until they sold most of the building, keeping only the ground-floor apartment now known as the Pool Flat, which contained the indoor pool.
The pool measures 7.57 metres by 4.5 metres.
The Grade II listed building was converted into residential flats in the late 1980s.
The flat contains an indoor swimming pool (Image: Oakley Property)
Besides being associated with Bryan, the Clarges Hotel has its own place in British film history.
Serving as a location for two Carry On films, the hotel was featured in Carry On at Your Convenience (1971) when the factory workers’ coach arrives during their seaside outing and served as the Palace Hotel in the fictional resort of Fircombe in Carry On Girls (1973).
Now, plans have been approved to remove the swimming pool from the flat, as well as make a number of other alterations.
The property was once owned by the actress Dora Bryan (Image: Wikimedia)
According to the application, the pool “takes up over half the floor area of the flat, and is very costly to run and maintain”.
As well as replacing the pool with a large kitchen, dining, and living area, the application also mentioned re-roofing the pool building.
The present kitchen is set to become a bedroom, with a proposed window looking into a rear courtyard.
The two rear bedrooms can now be knocked into one to create a larger bedroom.
A blue plague on the building commemorates Bryan’s legacy (Image: Oakley Property)
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The plans were approved on April 8.
Council planning officers wrote that “the removal of the swimming pool represents the removal of a relatively modern intervention, and facilitates a more functional residential layout.”
The full application can be viewed using the reference BH2026/00202.
Bryan, who entertained audiences on film, stage, and television, passed away on July 23, 2014, at the age of 91.
Her funeral was held on August 6, 2014, at St George’s Church in Brighton, where Bryan regularly attended services.