The Gleneagles hotel, in Torquay, Devon, has again been saved from demolition, on the grounds that its destruction would be bad for tourism.

The hotel, best known for inspiring John Cleese to write classic tv comedy Fawlty Towers, was initially saved last October, when the Torbay Council decided it would be against its tourism policy to replace the 41-room property with 25 flats.

Now, the council has again ruled out the possibility of pulling down the property, described by developers last August as “unattractive”, in fear that its demolition may have a detrimental effect on local visitor numbers.

In its outline for tourism in Torbay, the council states that tourism generates around £300m in the region each year, while employing 16,000 people.

John Cleese stayed at the Gleneagles in 1971 with the Monty Python team.

The hotel’s eccentric owner at the time, the late Donald Sinclair, was described by Cleese as the “most wonderfully rude man” he had ever met.

During his ownership of Gleneagles, Sinclair is said to have thrown out a suitcase through a window, believing it contained a bomb, and constantly correcting visitors’ poor table manners.