TOURISM-BOOSTING plans by the national hotel chain Travelodge to expand into Minehead have been welcomed by two of the town’s district councillors but greeted with dismay by a town councillor.

As Travelodge floated the idea of expanding into Minehead and Yeovil, two district representatives warmly greeted the idea as a boost to visitor spending and local jobs.

Minehead central ward member Cllr Terry Venner told the Free Press: “It’s just the sort of boost Minehead needs after two years of gloom that’s threatened the future of several businesses relying on tourism.

“It would be a fantastic boost for the town bringing investment and hopefully more jobs for locals.”

Fellow district councillor Andrew Hadley, who also represents Minehead central, agreed, stressing that he would be happy to help Travelodge find suitable and appropriate sites to suit its requirements.

He congratulated local tourism businesses that had ‘weathered the storm’ of Covid and higher overheads over the past two years.

“Hopefully we can now look forward to a much improved tourism season,” he said.

“Especially with Minehead’s new and improved level crossing up and running and the prospect of the West Somerset Railway running a fuller programme of regular trains.”

He said a wider range of visitor accommodation such as Travelodge could only bring more choice to suit all tastes.

Minehead town councillor Helena Rose told the Free Press she was opposed to having a Travelodge in the town.

“I think the addition of any extra chain-type hotels in Minehead would be a bad thing,” she said. “Such additional competition would only help to undermine the profits of the small independent B & Bs.

“I have seen too many of these small independent establishments go under already. We don’t want to lose any more established local B & Bs.”

Travelodge has identified Minehead and Yeovil as target locations for new hotels as it looks for further developments across the UK.

The company has announced these two locations among 35 places in the South-West where the hotel chain is considering building a Travelodge hotel.