Plans to demolish part of a Grade II*-listed building in order to make way for a new public courtyard in Hanover Square, London, have been criticised by the Victorian Society.

Great Portland Estates is behind the proposals as part of the Crossrail Masterplan, which is to see a new railway station built on the site of 18 and 19 Hanover Square. The scheme will see 20 Hanover Square become a restaurant, although a 1910 auction room to the rear of the property is to be demolished and replaced with the courtyard.

Heloise Brown, conservation adviser for the Victorian Society, said: "The developer has an obligation to provide public benefit from this scheme but this must not be fulfilled by destroying part of a Grade II*-listed building."