100-room hotel plan at former Irish pub

Last orders were called at the Irish-themed O'Neill's in Lichfield Street when it suddenly closed its doors last month.

Now the owners want to build a brand new hotel on the prime site, in the heart of the city's theatre quarter.

Bosses were today thrashing out a deal with a multi-national hotel firm in a move which would offer direct competition to the Britannia Hotel opposite.

It would also aid ongoing regeneration work in and around the city centre, which already includes the £265 million Summer Row shopping centre set to revitalise the jaded area around Netto and a major revamp of the low level train station.

The site owners, London-based Deanfind Ltd, hope to have the deal signed and sealed within months.

Tim Smith, spokesman for property agents Humberts Leisure acting for Deanfind, today remained tight-lippped about the interested hotel chain.