Escape rooms plan for Brontë village high street

Plans have been put forward to create an escape room venue in the heart of a West Yorkshire village popular with tourists.

The escape rooms would be installed on Main Street in the centre of Haworth, renowned as the home of the literary Brontë sisters.

The attraction would be built into the first floor above the old Penny Lane gift shop, which the planning application said had closed.

A cheese shop would be opened on the ground floor where the shop itself used to be.

Documents attached to the application, which was submitted to Bradford Council last week, said the 19th-Century Grade II listed property "has been vacant" and was "in very poor condition".

It added: "The roof is severely compromised, particularly to the rear, with rotten joists and partial collapse.

"The central chimney is cracked and unstable, with visible movement."

If approved, the escape rooms would run daily between 10:00 and 21:30, with one full-time and two part-time employees involved.

The application said there would be a maximum of "four groups at any one time, up to five participants per group".

The potential theme of the escape rooms was not mentioned.

The application said the scheme "strengthens Haworth's visitor economy, supports retail vitality" and ensures the revival of a building "in significant disrepair".

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