Fawlty Towers hotel to be demolished and converted into a retirement home

The hotel that inspired the TV comedy Fawlty Towers is to be demolished after developers were given the go-ahead to convert it into a retirement home.

The Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay was the inspiration for show creator John Cleese who based the iconic sitcom on the hotel after staying there with the Monty Python team in 1973.

Former owner Donald Sinclair unwittingly became the inspiration for Cleese's neurotic character Basil Fawlty.

The 41-bedroom hotel ceased trading early this year and Churchill Retirement Living applied to use the site for 36 retirement apartments.

The cast of Fawlty Towers - Prunella Scales, John Cleese and Andrew Sachs - in 2009. Credit: PA Images

Torbay Council's development management committee denied the application as they felt it was "too large and unsympathetic to the area".But today, the authority announced that the second scheme to be submitted by Churchill Retirement Living had been successful.

This will involve knocking down the three-star hotel and building 21 one-bed and 11 two-bedroom apartments, with a guest suite and two communal lounges.

Councillor Mark King, executive lead for planning, transport and housing at the council, described the scheme as "the best result":

In the committee report, case officer Matt Diamond writes:

The Gleneagles Hotel owner Donald Sinclair was the inspiration for Basil Fawlty. Credit: PA Images

The proposed apartment block will be split level, with five storeys to the front and six storeys to the rear, and will include landscaped gardens and the existing woodland.

Planning officers allowed the change of use of the site from touristaccommodation to residential as the former hotel was "commercially unviable", the report added.

This is because the hotel is situated in a residential neighbourhood, with"little passing trade" and at a distance from the town and harbour, it said.

In Fawlty Towers, Basil's escapades included trying to hide a rat from ahygiene inspector and pretending that his wife Sybil was ill during theiranniversary party when she had left him.

Andrew Sachs's character, well-meaning but dim waiter Manuel, suffered verbal assaults from Basil on a regular basis.

The show, voted number one in the British Film Institute's 100 GreatestTelevision Programmes in 200, ran for just 12 episodes.