A woman is taking her fight to save a Victorian hotel in St Leonards to the High Court.

Laverne Boyce-Preston is battling to save the Marlborough Hotel, in the Warwick Square conservation area, from demolition to make way for flats and a medical centre.

She is seeking a judicial review of Hastings Council's decision to grant the Hyde Housing Association planning consent for the scheme.

On March 20, Mr Justice Collins granted her an injunction forbidding demolition of the hotel, or any work likely to jeopardise its restoration, pending the outcome of the case.

Miss Boyce-Preston, of The Marina, who is a member of a local preservation society, is taking action to protect what she says is "a precious building" and "a piece of national heritage."

At an earlier court hearing, the hotel was described as being in a "lamentable" state of disrepair as a result of years of neglect.

Miss Boyce-Preston's solicitor, Jo Holden, has said she has no objection in principle to redevelopment of the hotel as long as the building's exterior is preserved for posterity.

He described the hotel as "a prime Victorian building and one of the finest set pieces on the South Coast."