NEW jobs could be created if plans to build four extra rooms at a 19th Century Ribble Valley hotel are approved later this year.

Under the plans The Spread Eagle Hotel in Sawley would see four new rooms built in addition to the current seven, creating up to four new staff positions.

The Grade II-listed building in Sawley Road, which was taken over by Individual Inns in 2007, had previously applied to build four new rooms in 2010.

The proposed bedroom extension would be added to the part of the building which was constructed in the 1960s.

The application is set to be discussed by Ribble Valley Borough Council by the end of the year.

Residents have been given until the end of the month to register their opinions on the proposed development with the borough council’s planning department.

The hotel’s manager, Natalie Barnes, said: “This is absolutely great news that an application has been submitted for new rooms again.

“We are full almost every night and there certainly is the demand out there. There are some days that we could be full two times over.

“I hope that it’s passed because it would really be a benefit to the hotel and the local area.

“We would be looking to take on three or four new members of staff if the plan is approved.

“The hotel would not have to close during construction and there would be no work carried out at night.

“At the moment when we have big groups staying, half sometimes have to stay somewhere else and we bus them over for meals which is far from ideal.”

In a statement to the council, a spokesman from Clitheroe-based Janet Dixon Town Planners Ltd, said: “The circumstances around the site have not changed since 2010.

“There have been no further alterations to the building since that date and no development in the vicinity of the site which would impact upon or change the way in which the application should be considered today.”