DEVELOPERS face a legal battle with a famous estate for a once glamorous, now crumbling, Bournemouth hotel.

The Boscombe Partnership has been trying to get planning permission for a new build after buying the leasehold to the Cliff End hotel last August.

But the freeholder, the Meyrick Estate, has sent a solicitor’s letter saying the site is not being well maintained, raising the prospect of a lengthy legal dispute.

The 124-year-old building was created for the jeweller H Samuel but has been decaying since it was closed nine years ago. Residents are desperate to see it demolished.

David Godfrey, a shareholder in the Boscombe Partnership, said the Meyrick Estate’s solicitors wrote to them last week.

“They are basically saying we are not keeping it in a good condition as per the lease and they will foreclose and get it back,” he said.

Mr Godfrey and fellow shareholder Clive Butt said they had invested thousands of pounds securing the site and making it safe.

He estimated they had made six phone calls and sent 10 emails to Meyrick since May requesting a meeting to put forward development ideas, but received no reply.

“Our solicitor said if it ended up going to court, it is obvious all the Meyrick Estate want to do is get a free property,” said Mr Godfrey.

The businessmen said their ideas include hotels, penthouse apartments and student accommodation, but they need Meyrick Estate as freeholders to approve any major work.

They said Meyrick Estate would still financially “win all the way down the line” if they developed the site and plan to defend any legal action.

Cllr Michael Filer, West Cliff, said: “I am genuinely very surprised that the Meyrick Estate, the heirs to one of the founding fathers of Bournemouth, would be so difficult over such a contentious issue.

“I feel sorry and angry on behalf of the residents who for years have been complaining and getting absolutely nowhere.”

The Meyrick Estate declined to comment.

Bournemouth Council confirmed that since the Boscombe Partnership had taken over, the council had not spend any money on securing the site.