A MAJOR multi-million town-centre hotel and restaurant development that will create around 60 jobs in South Lakeland is almost complete.

Whitbread is set to open a Table Table restaurant and Premier Inn hotel on Maude Street, in Kendal, next month.

The 55-bedroom hotel, which has rooms starting at £58 a night, is one of 12 new hotels Whitbread is launching this year.

The Table Table restaurant – named The Wakefield Arms after readers of the South Lakes Citizen chose to name the pub after Wavell Wakefield, a prominent local rugby player and politician – is one of four to be added to Whitbread’s existing chain of 100 across the country.

Lee Rushton, general manager of the hotel and restaurant development, who has managed Whitbread investments for more than ten years, said: “We are delighted to bring a new restaurant and hotel to Kendal, as well as creating jobs for the local area, and look forward to welcoming our guests to enjoy either a meal or a night’s stay with us.

“I’m looking forward to opening a new business in the area because it is just what Kendal needs and we are bringing a lot of jobs into the area, and we want to be part of the community.

“We offer really good value for money and a great pub dining experience.”

Peter Hensman, executive director of Lake District Estates Ltd, which has spent around £5 million on the site, said the hotel and restaurant would provide a boost to Kendal’s economy.

“It will be jolly nice to have the development completed,” he said. “It has been an inconvenience but it is nearly there and I think it is looking really good and is a huge improvement on what was there before.

“Other than the Riverside there isn’t an in-town hotel of any significance in Kendal.

“It is going to offer new life to Kendal in the evening and opportunities for shops and restaurants. It will encourage more people to stay in Kendal that may have stayed somewhere else.

“I think it should be good for Kendal’s economy. It provides employment in Kendal of around 60 new jobs, ranging from managers downwards.

“The hotel will also need services, such as food delivery and laundry, which will have a knock-on economic effect.”