CAMPAIGNERS have slammed plans to demolish an iconic waterside Southampton building.

Save Britain’s Heritage has condemned plans by Associated British Ports (ABP) to tear down Solent Flour Mills.

It comes following calls from two ward Councillors and a petition with over 700 signatures to stop the building being knocked down.

Cllr Sarah Bogle and Cllr Dave Shields have both called on ABP to delay demolition plans and discuss alternative uses for the buildings which they say could form part of the council’s masterplan for the city’s new Mayflower Quarter.

The campaigners who aim to conserve Historic British buildings have proposed converting the listed structure into a hotel or heritage centre to support the city’s tourist trade.

Alternatively, it could be used as an education or business centre, with spaces designed to attract the city’s expanding technology and higher education sectors.

The mills closed last February and are reportedly one of only two surviving examples of work by the late Art Deco architect, Sir Alfred Gelder.

Cllr Sarah Bogle said: “The building is in a key location where the port meets the city and could be a new gateway to both the planned new cruise terminal and the Mayflower Quarter. Part of the building dates back to the 1930s and was designed by Sir Alfred Gelder; we need to build on that ambitious legacy as a city if we are serious about bidding for City of Culture 2025.”

Executive president of SAVE Britain’s Heritage Marcus Binney added: “The rush to demolish recalls the dreadful pre-emptive demolition of the Ocean Terminal at Southampton in the 1980s. Had it survived it would be a star turn in Southampton’s booming cruise business. ABP needs to wake up to the way great industrial and transport landmarks can live again.”

ABP plans to level to mills under permitted development rights which do not require planning permission and to make way for increased storage areas.

Built in 1934 by Joseph Rank, the Solent Flour Mills were the first buildings constructed on the reclaimed land now known as the Southampton Western Docks.

Listed in 2009, they remain a historic landmark seen from across the city.

No detail has been made public on why the buildings have to be demolished or whether alternatives uses been considered.

The Daily Echo has contacted ABP for comment.