BUILDING work will start shortly on a new luxury hotel dubbed as being like something out of Star Wars.

MEPC, which runs Milton Park, has confirmed it has sold 1.5 acres of land at Milton Gate, close to the A34 Milton Interchange, for the new 140-room four-star hotel with spa and conference facilities which is expected to open next year.

Spokesman Philip Campbell said the land had been sold to the La Tour hotel group, which runs a four-star hotel in Albert Road, Birmingham.

He added: “The hotel will be a real asset to the area. We are very excited about this.

“The scheme has been granted planning consent under the Milton Park Local Development Order and we understand La Tour is planning to start on site shortly, with a view to opening in the autumn of 2017.

“It will be the first four-star luxury hotel with conference facilities in the area and will help to address the shortage of overnight accommodation identified in the Vale council’s July 2014 report on hotel needs.”

Although there is a Premier Inn on the other side of the A4130 to Milton Gate, Didcot itself does not have a hotel.

Mr Campbell added: “The new hotel will also help attract inward investment and be a real benefit to our customers at Milton Park by providing superb overnight accommodation to meet the needs of their executives, customers and visitors from within the UK and across the globe.

“The conference facilities for up to 350 people will also be a real plus and I’m sure the new hotel will be a great facility and a real benefit for the local community.”

Mr Campbell said businesses at Milton Park found it difficult to secure accommodation for overnight visitors.

He added: “Businesses have said to us that they are holding their conferences overseas because there is a lack of hotel accommodation in the Milton Park area.”

The La Tour hotel has benefited from a speeded up planning process as the land is in the Science Vale Enterprise Zone, created in 2011.

Last year, Labour town councillor Margaret Davies said the winged effect of the hotel’s roofline made it look like something out of Star Wars.

After seeing the latest artists’ impressions she said they were “remarkable”.

Mrs Davies added: “Didcot itself still needs a three-star hotel. It must be the only town in Oxfordshire of comparable size which does not have a hotel in the middle of it.

“The new hotel at Milton Gate will be seen by drivers from the A34 and will really make a statement. It’s good news for economic development in the area.”

Plans for an eight-storey hotel in Station Road, Didcot, have been included in South Oxfordshire District Council’s £60 million proposals to revamp the area opposite Didcot Parkway station, known as Didcot Gateway.

No one from the La Tour hotel group was available for comment.