Work on a new development in a popular Marlow shopping street will continue “in the next few weeks”, it has been confirmed.

The demolition of Windsor House, on the corner of Spittal Street and Dean Street, was started in December last year, but work was halted until an EE telephone mast could be removed from the building.

The building was left without windows in, leaving some residents and business owners concerned that it was becoming an “eyesore.”

The proposals to turn the building into more than 25 new homes were submitted by the developers, Sorbon Estates, in March last year, with a vision of getting rid of the ‘dated’ building and replacing it with a more traditional Georgian-style three-storey building.

Speaking at a meeting of the Marlow Community Forum, Bob Savidge, a member of the Marlow Society and a representative of the Marlow Sea Cadets, said: “They must have overlooked the mast when they started taking the windows out. The building has now become like a pigeon coop and it is just getting worse and worse.”

Mr Savidge also raised concerns about how pedestrians will be able to use the path next to the building when the redevelopment continues.

He said: “What will the pavement look like when they finally start work on it?  The drawings show that the building will come right up close to the pavement like the rest of the shops in Spittal Street, so there is going to be a problem with access.

“There is more than one problem associated with the house. It is not going to take five minutes to demolish it and rebuild it and it is a narrow pavement already. They will have to put scaffolding up.”

Tamra Booth, managing director of Sorbon Estates, said the building work is expected to be completed by summer 2018.

She said: “After negotiations with EE, the mobile phone mast has now been removed and we are very pleased to announce that redevelopment works at Windsor House will be starting in the next few weeks.

“This is a very exciting time at this important gateway into Marlow, the improvement works at Anglers Court opposite are well underway and our redevelopment of Windsor House will complement this to deliver a much improved, attractive street scene.

“We would like to thank local residents for their patience and co-operation during this time as we work to deliver 28 new homes and retail space for summer 2018.”