Permission has been granted to turn Cardiff's Coal Exchange into a hotel.

Councillors said that they needed "to get the ball rolling" to save the historic Cardiff Bay building, which has fallen into severe disrepair.

The city's planning committee meeting gave permission after being told the was inhabited by bats and several areas couldn't even be surveyed as they were in such a bad condition.

“It’s a listed building at risk and in desperate need of attention," a planning officer told councillors.

This is how developers say the main hall will look

Before the meeting began, it emerged the developer was already offering to sell rooms in the hotel when it is finished.

Developers are being offered the rooms for £80,000 as an investment opportunity.

They will receive a return on their investment every year and can sell them back to the developer after three years.

Councillor Garry Hunt said it was a relatively simple question that councillors were being asked.

“We haven’t got the hotel space. It’s something that has held us back," he said.

"We have the Champions League final coming next year but it’s something that’s held us back in the past.”

Developers Signature Living want to transform the listed building into a 200-room hotel, function rooms, restaurant and spa.

Their takeover of the building has been controversial, with some criticising the background of Signature’s owner Lawrence Kenwright and the way he generates money for his regeneration schemes.

The other items decided were:

Cathedral House, 31 Cathedral Road

63 Grand Avenue, Ely

Land to the west of Clive Lane, Grangetown

Student accommodation on City Road

Land off Clos-y-Cwarra in St Fagans

See how the meeting unfolded below