WORK is set to start on a new hotel in Bristol city centre which will create as many as 100 new jobs when it opens for business.

The new eight-storey hotel is being built on Lewins Mead in the heart of the city and construction work is due to start on the £10-million hotel in the summer.

The hotel chain Premier Inn has been given planning permission to build the new hotel on the site of the former Hill House Hammond Insurance building.

The new hotel is the latest in a rash of openings in Bristol and the surrounding area.

The openings have been triggered by the growth in the weekend break market and the popularity of Bristol as a city destination.

Holiday Inn opened for business in the former Avon County Council building overlooking the Bearpit roundabout this summer. The hotel has since proved to be one of the most popular in Bristol.

Travelodge is planning to open a new hotel in the Victoria Street area of the city centre.

And Dutch firm Qbic has announced it is looking to move into the city centre. Qbic specialises in finding empty office blocks and disused buildings and converting them into trendy budget hotels by installing ready built cube rooms complete with bathrooms.

There have also been persistent rumours that the Hilton group is looking for a suitable premises in the city centre.

The Premier Inn chain, which is owned by Whitbread, was represented by development town planning specialists Turley Associates.

Turley applied for planning permission for the new £10-million 175-bed hotel in Bristol's city centre.

The company initially applied for permission three years ago but shelved its plans as a result of the recession which badly affected the hotel trade.

The new Premier Inn will be built on a prime piece of land which has been standing empty for several years.

The decision will see Premier Inn build an eight-storey hotel with a ground-floor restaurant and bar on the site.

Peter Lawson, associate director, at Turley Associates, said: "We are delighted with this decision.

"Together with new jobs, the hotel will attract significant numbers of tourists and business travellers to the city who are seeking affordable centrally located accommodation, which has to be good news for the local economy."

The new hotel will comply with the Bristol City Council's tough environmental policies introduced through its "core strategy" in 2011.

The hotel will comply with the building regulations "very good" environmental assessment standard and will achieve a 20 per cent reduction in carbon emissions.

As reported in the Evening Post Turley won a planning appeal earlier this month for a new 108-bed Premier Inn hotel in Bath.