A proposed town centre hotel could feature a rooftop bar and 132 bedrooms.

Developers have been meeting with Maidstone Borough Council over plans to build an eight-storey hotel at the former Mothercare site in Week Street.

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The proposal would offer a rooftop bar, with the hotel backing on to Wyke Manor Road.

Property management firm Assetrock is behind a planning application, which is expected to be submitted by December.

The company believes a hotel could bring 44 jobs to the town, boosting tourism and bringing £156,000 worth of business rates to Maidstone Borough Council.

If the council approves plans, construction could start this time next year, with a view to open the hotel in the summer of 2021.

An Assetrock spokesman said: "Our intention is to regenerate the site as a high quality 132-bed hotel, with public areas including a rooftop bar, to contribute to the successful regeneration of Maidstone town centre and provide benefit to the local economy."

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Travelodge has previously stated its intent to add a second hotel to the town, on top of its current offering in St Peter's Street, but it would not reveal if the old Mothercare shop was its intended site.

A spokeswoman for the hotel giant said: "Until the exchange for any of our properties has gone through we are unable to provide a comment."

In 2016 MuMu's owner Ciaran O'Quigley gained permission to build a five star spa hotel in Brewer Street.

The Barming business owner said: "I think another hotel is a brilliant idea. Anything that brings 132 people plus from other places to Maidstone has to be a good thing.

"It will have to be a budget hotel if it's bringing that many rooms, so it will be slightly different to the MuMu hotel. I do wonder what they will do about parking."

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