MINEHEAD’S derelict Queen’s Hall, boarded up for over a year, is to reopen as an indoor market, it was revealed this week.

The 106-year-old seafront building, originally built as a cinema and theatre, has had a chequered history as an amusement arcade, sports bar, and wartime military canteen.

Last year, Burnham-on-Sea cinema-owner Pat Scott attempted to buy the building but found there was a covenant forbidding its use as a cinema.

After closing as a pub in 2013, the hall was boarded up until 2015 when it opened briefly as a bar, restaurant and entertainment venue before being put on the market for £395,000.

The property includes two bars, one fitted out as a nightclub, a VIP lounge and a second-floor flat.

Stephen Richards, associate partner at estate agents Carter Jonas, said this week that there had been more than 70 viewings of the property from potential purchasers hoping to use the building as a cinema, amusement arcade and children’s play area.