BLACKBURN'S new town centre Best Western hotel will open within weeks.

The signs are now in place on the exterior of the former Stage Door pub at the junction of Mincing Lane and St Peter Street as preparations for the new venture to start operations next month gather pace.

News of the imminent opening has been welcomed by Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Cllr Phil Riley and borough Conservative group regeneration spokesman Cllr Paul Marrow.

The Best Western outlet follows the opening of the Premier Inn in the Cathedral Quarter and Hampton by Hilton Blackburn on Frontier Park near the M65's Junction Six.

The town was without a front-line hotel for decades after the closure of The County Hotel, formerly the The Saxon Inn in Preston New Road in 2001.

A Best Western spokeswoman said: "It is indeed opening very soon. The hotel launches next month."

Details of the hospitality venture were given in a 2019 planning application which reveals it will have 16-rooms and a restaurant,

It anticipated that the new hotel would create 30 full-time equivalent jobs.

Close to the the town’s train and bus stations the the ground-floor restaurant will be open to guests and the public.

Cllr Riley said: "There is no question that Blackburn with Darwen's growing economy needs more hotel rooms.

"Therefore we're very pleased that Best Western are now going to fulfil their 2019 planning application.

"All the hotels in Blackburn are now full to the brim.

"When the Premier Inn was first suggested here were doubts about its viability but there are none about the need for hotels now as Blackburn with Darwen's economy is booming."

Cllr Marrow said: "Best Western is a well-known hotel brand.

"This will be good for the town centre.

"It shows confidence in Blackburn that it wants to revive these premises.

"It was a well-loved pub in its day and hopefully it will become a well-used and well-loved hotel."

JD Wetherspoon also won planning permission in 2018 to open a £2million 22-room hotel above The Postal Order in Darwen Street, Blackburn.

The pub - originally the Wheat Sheaf Hotel and then the Stage Door George dates from the late-19th century.

The three-storey building is within Blackburn's Darwen Street Conservation Area.

In 2016 it was briefly the Ego night club.

The planning statement submitted with the original application promises 'a good quality dining establishment and visitor accommodation to the locality which will contribute towards the vibrancy and vitality of the area.'

It adds: "The accommodation will be suitable for a range of visitors and tourists (e.g. those attending away football matches), as well as the business community."