A HOTEL has announced plans to expand by 25 per cent just six months after opening.

The four star Oak Royal Hotel, in Bury Lane, Withnell, only opened its doors in August, but has now unveiled plans to expand the number of rooms it offers from 26 to 32.

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The expansion is anticipated to create 10 new jobs.

The hotel is owned by Charles Downes, who started out farming cattle and pigs on his parents’ 25 acre smallholding in Withnell.

He expanded the farm before founding a business supplying catering goods to the licensed trade, and then began developing property locally, specialising in converting old agricultural buildings into homes.

In 2007 he opened the nine-hole Oak Royal Golf and Country Club on the farm, with a restaurant and café in the club house, as well as coarse and fly fishing lakes.

His latest development is the Oak Royal Hotel, which has seen a total £2million investment and created more than 40 local jobs.

The hotel is managed by Kenny Arnott, who has worked in hotels in Bermuda, Dubai and the United States, most recently as hotel manager of the five star Island of Eriska resort in Argyll.

Kenny said: “The hotel has been doing phenomenally well. We have built of a very strong core team of staff and we have had some fantastic feedback and reviews from our guests.

“Looking forward, weddings will prove critical to our success, so it’s really satisfying that we already have so many booked for next year.

“Work will shortly get underway on the new rooms and we look forward to being able to welcome more guests.”

The hotel is home to the Lark Hill Restaurant, which offers fine dining, alongside the Bubbles Lounge Bar and Sportsman Bar for informal meals, drinks, snacks and afternoon tea Another revenue stream is the hotel’s function room the Jubilee Suite, which seats up to 120 people, and The Boardroom, which can host meetings for up to 20 people.

The lastest investment in the hotel will be supported by a £600,000 development loan from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.