WORK on what is expected to be one of the biggest hotels in the North of England is to begin this month.

The luxury £100m hotel and golf course is to be created on the existing Flaxby Park Golf course, between York and Harrogate.

The ambitious scheme has been in the pipeline for many years. Harrogate Borough Council granted permission for the development in March 2010, but proposals were first unveiled in 1992.

In the past three years, the company behind the scheme, York-based Skelwith Leisure, has been working with councils and the Highways Agency to finalise planning and legal agreements.

Now work on the 300-room hotel and leisure development is set to begin on May 28 and should be completed in 2015. The first stage of the works will be installing a new roundabout on the A59.

Flaxby Country Resort will include a spa, gym, restaurants, bars and retail areas and a floodlit driving range and will be set in 283 acres of woodland. It will be one of the biggest hotels in the North of England and the developers hope the resort’s extensive golf course will be able to host high profile events in the future.

Once up and running, the development is expected to employ more than 300 people.

Skelwith Leisure, recently developed and opened Raithwaite Hall Country Retreat near Whitby.