A 100-year-old pub in Seaforth could be turned into housing three years after it closed its doors.
The Cock and Seaman in Rawson Road, formerly known as The Doric, has been shut since 2018 and is now the subject of an application to turn it into a house in multiple occupation (HMO).
Mervyn Kupshik of Tonik Rok has submitted plans to Sefton Council to turn the pub into an HMO with 14 rooms, along with two living rooms and a small garden. Plans show the bedrooms, all en-suite, vary in size between 11m2 and 28m2.
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Tonik Rok already owns HMOs in Kirkdale, Walton, Bootle, Tuebrook and Litherland.
Built more than 100 years ago, the pub was known as The Doric until 2015 when it was bought by pub chain AtWill Pubs.
The new owners changed its name to the more risque Cock and Seaman, prompting a backlash from locals, with several describing it as an “absolute joke”.
The new owners hit back, saying it was part of their “Scouse sense of humour” and that “pubs are meant to be fun places”.
The renaming of The Doric was in line with AtWill’s other pubs, all of which had been renamed to include the word “cock”.
However, in its new incarnation the pub lasted only another three years, finally closing in 2018 as AtWill Pubs was put up for sale. Since then, the pub has stood empty.
Tonik Rok was granted permission in 2019 to turn the pub into five self-contained flats but this plan appears to have been abandoned.
The public has until September 9 to comment on the planning application and Sefton Council aims to make a decision by October 11.
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