RESTORATION work on a hotel thought to mark the birthplace of Guy Fawkes has been halted by City of York Council amid concerns about the listed building.

Council planning officers called for the refurbishment to be stopped after it emerged that work was taking place without proper planning consent.

The Guy Fawkes Hotel, in High Petergate, was bought by Deirdre Skye in February for £800,000.

Mrs Skye said the building had suffered from under-investment for a number of years, and needed "gutting" to get it back up to scratch. She is spending £400,000 on structural alterations and a further £200,000 on the interior.

She said: "Initially, we thought the work would be quite superficial, but we soon found that there was so much needing to be done to it. It was in a terrible condition."

The Guy Fawkes Hotel - formerly Young's Hotel - is one of York's 300 most important listed buildings, with Grade II* status. Its interior and exterior are protected by law, and special consent from City of York Council and English Heritage is required before any alterations can take place.

A council spokeswoman said: "The council received a listed building planning application to remove an internal wall at the Guy Fawkes Hotel, but, during a routine site visit, it became apparent that additional work was being undertaken and/or planned.

"The council's conservation office called for a stop to all works on July 9 and we are currently awaiting full details of the proposed changes.

"We understand that the hotel owners have commissioned a conservation architect to draw up new plans and we will arrange a meeting with them once the plans are submitted."

Mrs Skye said: "We have been in consultation with the council's listed building officer, and on one of her visits she asked us to stop work.

"We didn't realise that we required listed building consent for some of the work we were doing on the main staircase and a fire escape."

She said she hoped that the restoration work could begin again within weeks, and that the hotel would be fully restored and ready for business by November.

Updated: 10:43 Friday, August 06, 2004