Jobs to be created at new Shrewsbury Premier Inn

Planning permission has been approved at the third attempt for a new hotel in Shrewsbury town centre.

The site on Smithfield Road, next to the multi-storey car park, has been empty since 2002 when a former BT office building was demolished.

Premier Inn said the 134-room hotel would cost £8m and create about 45 jobs.

Work on the five-storey building is expected to start in the new year and be completed within 12 months.

Shropshire Council said it was "an appropriate use for the area and would contribute to the wider vitality and viability of the town centre".

In 2008 an application for a nine-storey building was rejected because of its height.