Plans to build an 87-bed care facility on the site of a historic former pub have now been lodged - some nine months after a devasting fire tore through the site.

In January, the Griffin pub on Yarmouth Road in Thorpe St Andrew was gutted by a blaze, leaving it a shell of a building.

Norwich Evening News: Norfolk Fire Service attending a fire at The Griffin Pub in Thorpe St Andrew.Norfolk Fire Service attending a fire at The Griffin Pub in Thorpe St Andrew. (Image: Archant 2021)

Plans to demolish the former boozer were approved some days later and neighbours consulted on a care home vision for the site.

Now, this vision has been revealed, with Sequential Investors Ltd and Housing 21 lodging a planning application with Broadland Council for the site.

Should it be given the green light, the new facility would be a £20m investment, creating 42 new jobs in the care sector, with 28 full-time and 14 part-time vacancies set to be included.

Speaking when the plans were first unveiled ahead of a public consultation event, Gary Leigh, of Sequential, said: "We have spent many months working with the council to bring forward a scheme with supports the local community and brings well thought out homes to a village at the same time as addressing an eyesore site."

The development would prove similar to a small care village, with 87 new build extra care living apartments on the site.

These would be a mixture of sizes and be accompanied by a range of communal facilities, including a lounge, a restaurant and a hair salon.

Each of the 87 new apartments - four more than had been mooted in April - would be made available to the social rental sector.

The site is also set to include parking spaces for 43 vehicles.

Papers submitted with the planning application say: "The proposals have been supported by local residents as confirmed by the local engagement process.

"It will make a highly efficient and sustainable use of a largely brownfield site.

"The provision of 87 high quality extra care units will make an important contribution to delivering an identified local housing need, allowing older people to live independently for longer."

Pints were last pulled at The Griffin in 2017, but the pub itself dates back more than 230 years.