A hotel which caters for weddings is seeking permission to site three private hot tubs in woodland to the rear of the venue.

Jonathan Butterworth of Lavender Hotels has applied to Ribble Valley Council for a change of use of woodland to provide additional leisure offer, involving the siting of three hot tubs on raised decking together with new footpaths and a footbridge at Higher Trapp Hotel, Trapp Lane, Simonstone.

The hot tubs would be located within a small woodland area to the north of Higher Trapp Hotel and surrounding garden areas, with car parking located to the north east of Simonstone village and accessed from Trapp Lane.

The hotel and venue for weddings has been in use since around the 1960s and the existing woodland area to the north of the hotel currently includes informal footpaths, with open fields to the north.

A planning statement submitted with the application reads: “The hotel has been able to survive and continue develop as a viable business because it has moved with the times and provides a wide range of facilities including conferencing and licenced weddings in addition to traditional hotel accommodation.

“The hotel will need to remain viable and continue to strive to provide new and additional facilities in order to remain competitive and where guests and users of the hotel are now demanding hot tub facilities which can be used by hotel guests and wedding parties during their stay.

“The hotel owner is now wishing to provide hot tubs as an additional offering to clients and as a way of meeting the aspirations/needs of hotel users.

"The proposed hot tubs are to be located on freestanding timber decks which are raised off the woodland floor to allow wildlife and surface water run off to be undisturbed.”

Each of the three timber decks will include a hot tub, a small changing enclosure and perimeter fencing and will be constructed/clad in natural timber boarding and left unstained.

Each of the hot tub locations will include an electricity supply and drain down pipework which will discharge into the existing foul water drainage system to the hotel.

Low level lighting will be incorporated into the design of the raised deck and access pathways only to avoid any unnecessary light spillage in to the adjacent woodland.

The footpaths will be constructed using sections of tree logs fixed into the ground using steel pins with compacted gravel in fill between the log steps.

Anyone wishing to comment on the proposals has until April 26 to do so.