DETAILS of a multi-million pound hotel development by Dragons' Den entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne are expected to be unveiled next week.

Bannatyne Hotels Limited is poised to reveal plans for a 50-bedroomed hotel next to the Bannatyne Health Club, in the Belmont area of Durham City.

The three-storey hotel will be the second opened by the company, after its development of the former New Grange Hotel, in Darlington.

Few details of the development have been released, although it is believed to include plans for a 40-seat dining area and 20-space car park, linked to the 150-space car park at the health club.

Nigel Armstrong, managing director of the hotel company, based in Darlington, said: "It will enhance the site in Belmont alongside the established Bannatyne's Health Club and confirm Durham as a hub for North-East business activity.

"The hotel will offer a radical new booking process, which will be unveiled in the near future.

"Contractors will also be appointed shortly, and future announcements regarding the hotel development and its high-quality facilities will be made in the coming months."

The development has had a difficult history. An initial application was refused in February last year by Durham City Council, but the company appealed and the decision was overturned in August.

The business is the latest major hotel development planned for the city, which has a tourism industry worth an estimated £100m a year.

On Wednesday, the city council granted detailed planning permission for a 54-bedroomed extension at Ramside Hall Hotel, in Carrville.

Outline planning permission was granted for the extension last year, as part of a wider scheme involving the redevelopment of the ballroom, development of a health spa, and a car park and golf course extension.

Work is progressing on a 100-bedroomed hotel as part of the Walkergate development, in the city centre, while on the opposite bank of the River Wear, a 200-bedroomed Radisson Hotel is expected to be completed in the next two years.