There are signs of development at long last at the forlorn site of the former Robin Hood pub in Helsby.

Construction machinery has moved on to the land on Chester Road, leading councillors and residents to hope that the ‘eyesore’ may finally be transformed.

The drinking hole had been boarded-up for several years before arsonists torched it in 2011.

Halebank Developments, which has earmarked the land for houses, demolished it the following month but the site has been dormant since then.

A digger spotted on the site where the Robin Hood pub once stood
A digger spotted on the site where the Robin Hood pub once stood

Cllr Terry O’Neill, who in the past described it as a ‘blight on an otherwise well-kept village’, said: “It really great that work has eventually got under this site has been an eyesore ever since the Robin Hood pub burnt down.

“Let’s hope work progress well, with no problems, and the homes are occupied quickly.”

Cllr Chris Ellams added that it was ‘good at long last’ to see development begin at what has been a ‘source of disappointment to both the parish council and residents of Helsby’.

“We are keen to see the development completed as this will remove another area of the village that has for so long been left idle,” he said.

Cllr Ellams highlighted, however, a need to address the increase in vehicles and knock-on effect on parking capacity that expansion brings.

The Chronicle contacted Halebank Developments but their representative declined to comment.