A NEW hotel is planned by brewers Shepherd Neame in the centre of its home town of Faversham.

What used to be Tatt's bookmakers would be converted into a 10-bedroom hotel with dining room and integrated with the Sun Inn, which is next door and owned by Shepherd Neame. The kitchen there would be upgraded.

A spokesman for the brewers confirmed plans had been submitted to Swale Borough Council. "The company is very excited about it. It will be a fabulous addition to Faversham's tourism business," he said.

Town centre manager Laurence Young said he was thrilled. He said: "We are looking forward to having a second town centre hotel once again in Faversham.

"It will be a boost to the local economy given that we are more and more attracting visitors and it's somewhere in the town for local businessmen to stay. I'm delighted and excited."