Expansion bid at Blackpool hotel is set to be approved

Councillors are being recommended to approve an application by Premier Inn to build an additional 26 bedrooms at its hotel attached to the Red Lion on Devonshire Road in Bispham.

Currently there are 67 bedrooms.

Premier Inn says it wants to extend the hotel because it is trading well and has above-average occupancy rates.

However some nearby residents have objected to the scheme fearing it will lead to parking and noise issues.

But a report to Blackpool Council’s planning committee, which will consider the applicaton when it meets tomorrow, says there is demand for the extension and the design of the proposed building will complement the existing bedroom block.

It adds: “It is not considered the extension would significantly affect the amenities of the occupiers of houses in Village Way to the north of the site.”

The hotel will remain open during construction if permission is granted.

Premier Inn already has planning permission in place for a 150-bedroomed hotel on the vacant Yates’s site in Talbot Square.

Work was expected to begin this spring after councillors approved a £7m six-storey scheme which also includes a Brewers Fayre restaurant on the ground floor, but so far the project has stalled.