A SIXTY-one bedroomed Premier Inn, expected to accommodate around 22,000 guests a year, has been given the go-ahead on the former Patricks stonemason's site in Guildford Road, Farnham.

Building of the hotel, plus a 190-cover Beefeater restaurant towards the frontage of the site, should start in late spring, a representative of the company told Waverley Council's western area planning committee.

The committee granted planning permission last Wednesday, after hearing that although several small businesses, mostly concerned with car sales, repairs and washing, will be displaced, there would be a net gain of 34 jobs on the site.

Planning officers recommended that planning approval should be granted, describing the three storey building as "a high quality design", bespoke for the town, which would enhance a gateway into Farnham.

For full story, see this week's Farnham Herald.