A TRAVELODGE will spearhead Colchester’s planned Northern Gateway development with an 80-bed hotel.

Turnstone Estates has announced the hotel chain has taken a 25-year lease at the site.

It will be joined by a Smashburger restaurant and Letherington Leisure, which has agreed to open a Paradise Island Adventure golf centre at the Colchester Council site.

Chris Goldsmith, of Turnstone Estates, said: “We are delighted to have secured three further leading leisure tenants at the Northern Gateway.

“There is also strong interest in the remaining units. This exciting project will deliver a state-of-the-art leisure development together with a superb dining offer and will provide a great boost to Colchester and its wider environs.”

The site is also set to become home to a 12-screen Cineworld cinema.

Smashburger already has restaurants in Milton Keynes and Brighton.

Edward Dantzic, director of Paradise Island Adventure Golf, said: “We had been looking for some time to bring our business model south of the Midlands and were delighted when the Colchester opportunity presented itself.

“We are looking forward to being part of what we strongly believe will be a successful development.”

Northern Gateway will be a mixture of leisure and restaurants. Council bosses have insisted no shops will form part of its development, saying it will have a limited impact on the town centre.

However, experts earlier this month revealed in a report it could undermine town centre trade. which relies heavily on eating out.

A decision on the full planning application is expected in the next two months and work could start this year, with a provisional completion date of late 2018.