A £13m Village Leisure Hotel is to be developed by the De Vere Group on North Tyneside.

It will create around 350 full and part-time jobs in the construction, hospitality and leisure sectors.

Village Newcastle, incorporating a 127-bedroom hotel, restaurants and banqueting, with an extensive state-of-the-art leisure club, is to be built on a five-acre site on the international Cobalt Business Park and is scheduled to open in the spring of 2002.

There are currently 12 Village Leisure Hotels in the UK and work has recently commenced on the 13th, Village Bury, in North Manchester.

The De Vere Group portfolio includes De Vere Hotels, Village Leisure Hotels and Greens, stand-alone health and fitness clubs.

There are currently 20 prestigious De Vere Hotels across the UK.

The latest addition to the portfolio is De Vere White's, a 125-bedroom hotel at the Reebok Stadium, in Bolton. It becomes the first fully integrated stadium hotel in the UK.

Village Leisure Hotels offer a unique mix of outstanding leisure facilities combined with the very best in hospitality and quality business service.

The Village Newcastle Leisure Club will feature a 25-metre heated pool, sauna, steamroom, sunshower, fitness studio, two aerobics studios, whirlpool spa, toning tables, and HealthWorks studio, providing health and beauty treatments for both men and women.

Paul Dermody, chief executive of the De Vere Group, said: "We aredelighted to be continuing our major investment in the Tyneside region, following up on the £16m acquisition of De Vere Slaley Hall in 1998.

Village Newcastle will undoubtedly be a major asset to the region, both in terms of facilities and employment opportunities."

Guy Marsden, director, Highbridge Business Park Limited, developer of the international Cobalt Business Park, said: "This is great news for North Tyneside and for the region.

"Cobalt is the only business park in the North to have a first class hotel on site, which means that people visiting the international companies locating here will enjoy high- quality accommodation and occupiers will have premier conference and leisure facilities on their doorstep."

Already located at Cobalt Business Park are Procter & Gamble and Orange, which has already committed to a second phase.

Cobalt has Enterprise Zone status until 2006. Contact De Vere Group through Mark Bevan on (01829) 741651, or mobile: 0374 488372.