RESIDENTS’ lives will be blighted by a Premier Inn extension, claims a resident living near the hotel.

Premier Inn Hotels has won planning approval from Cheshire West and Chester Council to extend its Northwich South hotel.

The new two-storey building at the London Road hotel will comprise 18 bedrooms, and will bring the total number of bedrooms to 61.

The current car park has 111 spaces, and the hotel chain said the extension would see the realignment of existing bays and no extra parking spaces.

The site comprises a 43-bedroom hotel and the Woodpecker Brewers Fayre restaurant, landscaping and car parking.

The scheme sparked opposition from Woodpecker Drive resident Leonard Burgess.

“This new planning application will have a devastating effect on the residents 365 days a year, 24 hours a day,” he wrote in his objection letter.

“This is an over-development of this site that will blight substantially the lives of the residents of Woodpecker Drive and London Road.”

The scheme would see the car park and extension almost touching residents’ rear fences, he said, invading their privacy and creating noise and light pollution.

Planning consultants Walsingham Planning said in a report accompanying the application: “Parent company Whitbread has recognised a requirement for additional rooms in the area.

“The existing hotel is one of the group’s best-performing facilities in the region, and the budget hotel market, which accounts for about one third of hotel rooms in the country, is a growth area in which Premier Inn is the leading provider.”

The firm said the proposed extension would create new jobs during construction and in the form of additional hotel/restaurant staff in reception, room maintenance, building maintenance and security which would be required as a result of the extra bedrooms.

“A positive effect may also be expected within the restaurant. New staff will be recruited locally,” it added.

“Additional visitors to the area will also generate income for local businesses in the wider area.

“The current provision of parking spaces is considered sufficient to provide adequate parking for the existing and proposed development, and there will be no issues in terms of parking or highway safety.”