A HOTEL chain is expected to put forward plans for a 100-room hotel opposite Didcot Parkway rail station within the next two months.

South Oxfordshire District Council announced in March it wanted to see a new hotel built on land opposite the station in Station Road and a property developer has now sold the land to the council.

At the moment, the town does not have a hotel, and the nearest one is the Premier Inn at the A34 Milton Interchange.

It is hoped the building will be the centrepiece of a new updated gateway to the town, alongside the ongoing £7.6m work to revamp the station forecourt, due to finish early next year.

A hotel chain has now come forward and is due to submit a planning application to the council before Christmas.

Council leader Ann Ducker said: “It will be a very nice hotel for Didcot and the surrounding areas.

“Having something like that there would be really good for companies at Harwell science park and Milton Park, and other businesses around Didcot.

“This is a step forward.”

Mrs Ducker would not reveal the identity of the hotel company other than to confirm that it owns a chain in Oxfordshire.