PLANNING officers have backed an application to build a 21-bed Premier Travel Inn at the Anchor Inn, at Gargrave.

Officials have recommended the scheme is approved when Craven District Council's planning committee meets on Monday.

"A comprehensive landscape proposal accompanies the application, which will reduce the overall impact of the hotel on the surrounding area," says a report to the meeting.

However, officers said several other conditions should be attached to any approval, including restrictions on building materials and the provision of parking. No letters of objection have been received.

A previous application to build a 20-bed accommodation block was refused last August because the design was not in keeping with the traditional stone-built inn, and the applicants had failed to provide evidence that more visitor accommodation was needed in the area.

But officers say the latest design is more sympathetic to the surroundings and will be built from reconstituted stone with a slate roof.

The applicant has also carried out an assessment of visitor accommodation around Gargrave and provided evidence of a need for the development.

It says the hotel will create a number of local jobs and encourage visitors to the area.