THE site of a former popular Whitehaven nightspot is set to be transformed into a pay and display car park.

Cap’n Senny’s on Senhouse Street, which was one of the town’s busiest pubs, closed for good in December 2014.

The building was later demolished and the site has stood empty for a number of years.

Now plans have been lodged with Copeland Council to transform the land into a pay and display car park.

I Park Smart Ltd, the company behind the application, wants to create vehicle access, clear and level the site, surface it with tarmac, mark it out and use it as pay and display car park.

The car park will provide a total of 20 spaces.

A supporting statement submitted with the application says that the car park will not affect the operation of existing businesses in the area.

Planning permission had been granted in March 2015 to demolish the pub and build nine flats and a house on the site, but the plans did not progress past demolition.

The plans say that neither the applicant or the land owners had any involvement with the previous application. 

The owners purchased the site with the intention of using it as a car park for the adjacent Waverley Hotel, which they owned at the time.

However, they no longer own the Waverley and wish to dispose of the site, the plans go on to say.

Graham Roberts, who represents the Harras ward on Whitehaven Town Council, said he wasn’t sure it was the right application for the site.

He said: “It isn’t very big and I don’t think the access is brilliant. I don’t think it’s big enough, personally. It’s turning into it that’s the problem. The road isn’t very wide there.

“I would have thought we could have done better than that. I’m not sure if the overspend is going to be worth it.

“They should have thought about this before they brought Senny’s down. It’s an awkward place. I don’t think it’s a great idea.

“We need more parking in Whitehaven but with decent access and availability for more cars.”

READ MORE: Motorists hit with £100 fines on Strand Street car park in Whitehaven - after not buying parking tickets fast enough