Work appears to start on Premier Inn hotel in Bognor Regis, new photos show

The pictures show workers, diggers and construction equipment on the site – which is just off the promenade, near the town hall – all of them seemingly laying the ground work for the £13 million new project.

It comes months after the Old Fire Station, a historic building which once existed on the site, was demolished to make way for the new project. Kicking off in March, the demolition took six to eight weeks, and made way for the project to come. In previous updates about the hotel, Whitbreads claimed it should be up, running and complete by this time next year.

Once it is, they say the finished hotel will create thirty new jobs for local people, and create somewhere in the region of £2.8 million for the local economy, annually. The final site will take up part of the esplanade, including the old fire station and part of the Regis Centre car park, which visitors will use for parking.

Planning Permission for the site was granted last year and permission was secured following a land swap with Arun District Council, which saw them give up the lease on the nearby Regis Centre in order to allow multi-million pound regeneration works to take place. The landswap, which involved a £750,000 buyout to secure the rights to the Regis Centre, also saw Whitbread give up the lease on the Brewers Fayre site, which has been empty since April last year. Current plans suggest it could be rebuilt a a multi-purpose ‘Royal Hall’-style venue.

In a statement issued shortly after planning permission was approved, Louise Woodruff, property acquisitions manager for Whitbread, said: “The wide appeal of Premier Inn helps to drive the high year-round occupancy we experience across our network and informs the investment case for new locations like Bognor Regis seafront. The planning consent gives us the go-ahead to bring forward our multi-million pound investment in Bognor town centre, create new jobs and help to support the local economy through the year-round spending of our guests. It is fantastic news for us and the town.”

Whitbread PLC has been contacted for comment.