THE former Pike House Inn at Berry Hill has become a public menace say local residents who are calling for it to be fixed up – fast!
However a local builder who has submitted plans for the site says he believes local people will welcome the new proposals and he says he will also send some workmen there to make it safe.
"The graffiti is awful and the site is littered with drug paraphernalia like needles and bottle necks," says John Turner, who was among objectors to plans for conversion to flats passed by the Forest of Dean District Council in June 2007.
"People are sleeping rough and there are condoms among the litter. Also, someone has put bricks through the upper windows and jagged glass is hanging out. Something has to be done before it gets any worse."
The Review has learned that new plans were submitted to the Forest council on May 27 this year to demolish the old pub buildings and erect 12 flats on the site. The original 2007 plans were to convert the old buildings into seven flats.
The applicants for the new plans are local developers KW Bell and Sons and chief Keith Bell said he was sure the state-of-the-art building now proposed would vastly improve the area.
He was aware the old building he had acquired was "a mess" and said he would get the loose glass knocked out so that there was no danger to the public while the plans were being considered.