PLANS for a Premier Inn hotel have proved popular with residents.

A planning application for the hotel proposed for Ulverston has been submitted by Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, Premier Inn’s parent company, to South Lakeland District Council.

The project, worth around £5m, was presented to Ulverston Town Council on Monday. If the plans are approved by SLDC, work will begin at the former abattoir site in North Lonsdale Terrace in the spring, with the aim of completing the hotel by next summer.

James Anderson, from planning consultancy firm, Turley, and Helen Binns, from Walsingham Planning, said Premier Inn was very keen to invest in Ulverston. The hotel would create around 30 new jobs in the area.

He said: “The plans include a 79-bedroom hotel and a 74-cover restaurant. The restaurant will be serving lighter meals as Premier Inn recognises that guests go out to eat in the area they are staying.

“Premier Inn creates a lot of income in local areas.”

Councillors heard the public consultation held at the Coronation Hall in Ulverston in December proved to be “very popular”.

Mr Anderson said: “Digital media played a very big part in getting the news out and we had more than 700 people looking at our public consultation website, which is seven times more than what we normally get.

“The feedback we received was very positive.”

Turley received 75 pieces of feedback and 85 per cent of it was positive. One of the concerns highlighted during the consultation period was the lack of outside seating.

Mrs Binns said: “Following the public consultation we changed a few things on the design. We reduced the height of the building, we relocated the disabled parking so it was closer to the entrance and we have created two areas of outdoor seating, one of which will be alongside the canal.”

The hotel will also be built on stilts as sections of the building will be in areas at risk of flooding.

Councillors asked questions and voiced their concerns. One worry raised was about the entrance to the hotel car park near to the bend in North Lonsdale Terrace but Mrs Binns insisted it was the safest place for it to go.

In a vote, all the councillors supported the application.