A ROCK star and his author wife are set to put a few more bricks in the wall of a historic bath house which has been threatened with demolition for the past 16 years.

Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour and his wife Polly Samson are the new owners of the 121-year-old Medina House on Hove seafront which they are set to convert into a luxury home.

Developer Sirus Taghan has walked away from the property after 16 years and 20 failed planning applications to demolish the locally listed building and redevelop the site with high-rise flats.

He told The Argus he gave the property away, waving a potential six or seven figure purchase price, on the proviso that the new celebrity owners agree to retain the building.

The three-storey former bath house, considered by historians to be the last architectural remnant of Brighton and Hove’s past as a medicinal salt water bathing mecca, is just a stone’s throw from the couple’s grade II listed five storey home in Medina Terrace.

The musician, whose net worth is valued at £85 million and who moved to Hove seafront six years ago, also has an adjoining underground studio where he recorded part of his latest album this year.

An unexploded Second World War bomb was uncovered during building works at the rear of the Gilmour’s house in May 2012.

Mr Taghan said he was first approached by the couple six years ago who wanted to convert the property into a spa but he was not ready to sell at the time.

He said he decided to walk away from the project after his latest plans for a four storey block of eight flats were rejected in March.

He added: “I realised I was just going over the same old route, just doing it again and again.

“I think at the start, I never realised that there were so many people opposed to my ideas.

“If people don’t want something exciting on the seafront, then I have to walk away from it.

“It’s like a baby, if you have to give it away, you’re not going to sell it are you? You can’t put a price on that.

“Six years ago they were interested in doing a spa in there but now they are more interested to do a family home for themselves.”