A NEW hotel is to be opened by a major chain on the outskirts of Colchester.

Work is under way to build a 99-bedroomed Holiday Inn Express, just off the A12 near Dedham.

The hotel, on the site of the former Birchwood Hotel, in Birchwood Road, and is due to open in the spring.

Nigel Offen, Colchester Council’s councillor responsible for business and tourism, said: “We always welcome new hotels in the area because we have demonstrated that we’re very short of hotel beds.”

A report by Colchester Council in 2007 revealed the borough needed up to four new hotels, including a large one off the A12.

Hotels are also being planned for the Cultural Quarter, with a planning application expected soon, and at the site of the former Grey Friars college, in East Hill.

Wendy Bailey, chairman of Destination Colchester, said: “We need more beds in Colchester because it is such a good destination for tourists.

“I think this is a really encouraging sign that Colchester is beginning to go forward from our tough times.”

In 1988, the year after the Birchwood Hotel was demolished, planning permission was granted for a 98-bedroom hotel on the same plot of land.

Permission from Colchester Council was renewed every five years after that, but the hotel was never built.

Then last year, an application was made for a slightly different design with 99 bedrooms to meet the needs of Holiday Inn.

The council’s planning committee approved the bid in June.

No one from Holiday Inn or Geminex Hotel & Leisure Management, which is behind the development, was available to comment.