Leicester Central station to become a hotel?

Leicester used to have two mainline railway station. The Midland station, formerly known as Leicester London Road, is still in use. The second , Leicester Central on the old Great Central line, closed in 1969.

On Wednesday the Leicester Mercury carried this news:

Leicester's run-down Great Central railway station could be converted into a 100-bedroom boutique hotel as part of multi-million pound proposals to regenerate a neglected corner of the city. 

Developer Charles Street Buildings (CSB) owns the station complex near Highcross which was abandoned by rail bosses in 1969. 

It is currently used as industrial units but CSB is looking to remove part of the viaduct, in Great Central Street and create shops, cafes and restaurants in the remaining railway arches.

And on Friday a follow-up report talked to some of the people using the station buildings today.

All of which made me go and have a look at the old station this afternoon.

I am too knackered to write up my discoveries this evening, but I thought you might enjoy this terracotta sign from the site.

You can see it, along with some long-vanished trams, in one of the photographs accompanying the Mercury's second report.