Hotel construction at former Wakefield Westgate station could start in 2025

The old Wakefield Westgate rail station site has been derelict for more than 10 years

The construction of a hotel on the former site of Wakefield's main railway station could get under way next year.

The old Westgate station was bought by Wakefield Council last April as part of major city centre regeneration plans.

The derelict site is expected to be transformed to include a 120-bed hotel, with ground surveys having now been carried out, a council official said.

The scheme also includes the building of "high quality" offices at Pemberton House, which also occupies the land.

The station ceased operations in 2013 when a new station on Mulberry Way was completed.

Mark Lynam, the council's corporate director for regeneration and economic growth, said the next stage would be "to market the site to interested hotel developers", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Construction is expected to start on site late 2025 or early 2026," he added.

The council has previously said it wanted the development to attract businesses back to the city centre and "reverse the trend of out-of-town locations".

It bought the site for nearly £600,000 following an agreement with Network Rail.

The project could create more than 700 jobs, including 130 at the hotel, according to the authority.

The purchase is being funded through a £24.9m government Towns Deal grant allocated in 2021.