It seems we may never know what caused the King's Hotel in Darlington town centre to be devastated by fire in August last year.

But, at long last, there are signs of some movement on what has become an eyesore in Darlington town centre.

The hotel's owners have submitted plans to renovate the building, which is a Darlington landmark.

The refurbishment can't come soon enough because local retailers could have done without such an unsightly blemish on the shopping centre in these tough trading times.

But I hope that the rebirth of the hotel comes with a return to the name by which it has been known for centuries.

When the current building was put up in 1890, it was the King's Head Inn. The King's Head had been the name on the site for centuries before that.

Only in recent years was the "head" chopped off but locals still call it by its traditional name.

Even the hotel's website is reached via the address "kingsheaddarlington".

We want our grand old hotel back to former glories. But let's have the grand old name back too.