Braintree Council has rubber stamped plans to pull down a derelict restaurant which has been empty for more than three years.

The authority has granted the owner of Masalla, in South Street, Braintree, permission to demolish the disused property.

The restaurant has been closed since April 2015, when a devastating blaze tore through an upstairs flat in the property.

Since then, the building has been left abandoned and is sometimes used by the town’s homeless population for shelter.

However now the premises will be demolished in the interests of public safety.

The demolition work will take place between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday, and between 8am and 1pm on Saturdays.