A hotel in Weston-super-Mare could expand by 40 bedrooms, if plans for an extension are approved.

Premier Inn wants to extend its hotel in Hutton Moor Road, next to the Pavilion Beefeater restaurant.

The extension would be over three floors, with the bedrooms on two floors, above car parking spaces.

Premier Inn says the extension will have an 85 per cent occupancy rate and therefore bring 14,000 additional visitors to Weston.

It also says 40 per cent of guests would not use the Beefeater, but would instead go into the town for food.

Premier Inn also owns a hotel on the seafront in Beach Road in Weston, and another in Lympsham.

Documents included in the planning application to North Somerset Council say: “There are 244 Premier Inn rooms in the vicinity, the largest element serving the town centre and seafront while the smaller units serve the outer areas of the town and customers on the road network, notably the M5.”

As part of the application, the hoteliers discussed possible other sites, including Dolphin Square, the TJ Hughes building in High Street and the former tax office in Wadham Street.

But it said the sites were either no longer suitable for Premier Inn because they are close to the seafront hotel, or were not viable.

Its documents say: “The opportunity for hotel development in the centre of Weston remains limited, but, if it comes, it will probably take the form of completely new facilities, offering more than the simple budget room in which Premier Inn specialises.”

For more details, visit www.n-somerset.gov.uk using the planning number 16/P/0033/F.