IPSWICH: As work on one Waterfront hotel nears completion, another is due to start rising from the ground over the next few weeks.

Premier Travel Inns are due to open their new hotel near on Key Street in January next year. Building work is now under way and it should start taking shape over the next few weeks.

Meanwhile Travelodge in Duke Street is nearing completion, and should be ready to take its first guests in the summer.

The Premier Inn is costing �5 million and will have 80 bedrooms.

It will create 32 jobs – and will include a bar and a restaurant, although the format of the restaurant has still to be decided.

There will be a car park for 61 vehicles for hotel guests created on the land beside St Mary at Quay church between Key Street and Star Lane.

The development is seen as a key element in creating a link between the historic town centre and the Waterfront.

Ipswich MP Ben Gummer said: “This is very good news, and a real vote of confidence in the town.

“I meet a lot of business people in the town, and over the last few weeks I’ve noticed there is a bit more optimism coming through.

“We’re not out of the woods yet, but things are feeling a bit better. It will take some time before that gets through to people as a whole.”

Work was likely to start on other projects around the Waterfront over the next few months: “The cranes will soon start going up again,” Mr Gummer added.

Are the new hotels good for the town? Write to Your Letters, Ipswich Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail starletters@archant.co.uk