Hotel jobs boost for town

A six-storey 120-bed hotel and restaurant is to be built at Walsall's Waterfront, in a move set to create more than 60 jobs, it has been revealed.

Leisure firm Whitbread is behind the proposals, which will see the creation of a Premier Inn, Table Table restaurant and bar.

The multi-million pound proposals are among the first detailed plans for the Waterfront site, which it was feared had stalled due to the economic slump and job cuts by developers Urban Splash.

The development looks set to mirror that of Whitbread's involvement at the Low Level Station in Wolverhampton, where its hotel and award-winning restaurant were the first businesses to open on the historic site. The Premier Inn will sit between Wolverhampton Street and the town arm of the Walsall Canal, just a few minutes walk from the town centre.

Sixty full and part-time jobs in hospitality and management are to be created.

A large car park called the Park Hedge Building will sit opposite the hotel and is expected to be completed at the same time with space for 630 vehicles.

The route to the new hotel from the town will take pedestrians past the New Art Gallery and The Wharf Bar down to the canalside.