Demolition work has stopped at a landmark Hamilton building after asbestos was discovered.

The Canadian Hotel, on Reid Street, which was built in the early 1920s, is being demolished after sitting derelict for more than a decade.

Patrick Cooper, city engineer for the City of Hamilton, said: “There is a stop-work order placed on the site — evidenced by the notice affixed to the site.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Planning said: “There were public safety concerns at this site regarding the demolition work.

“We have a report confirming asbestos. The Department of Health issues licences, monitors and controls asbestos abatement.”

All buildings on the site, owned by Thomas Powell of Stonehaven Development Company, are being levelled.

Demolition work was expected to have been completed by March 31.

Mr Powell, who is also the owner of The Spot Restaurant, has sought investment in the building for several years with no success.

The Canadian Hotel served as a boarding house for many years until closing in 2006 after Mr Powell found himself facing a $1.5 million bill to renovate and insure the premises.

A Special Development Order was obtained for the site in 2008.

Mr Powell blamed the island’s “loss of confidence for foreign investment” on the lack of developers willing to purchase the site.

It has since fallen into dereliction and was further damaged by a fire in 2012.

Philanthropist James “Dick” Richards built the Canadian Hotel after purchasing property on Reid Street in 1918. The Canadian Hotel was built in stages, but the four-storey first section with a lion on top was completed in 1921. Mr Richards owned the Canadian Hotel until his death in 1965.

The Royal Gazette asked the Department of Health about the levels of asbestos on the site, what threat it poses to the public and what work needs to be done in order for demolition to continue, but did not receive a response by press time.

Mr Powell could not be reached.