WORK has begun on a luxury £17 million hotel with views over Allington Castle and the River Medway on the outskirts of Maidstone.

The 122-bedroom Village Hotel and Leisure Club, part of the De Vere Group, is expected to be finished in early 2004.

Featuring restaurants, a pub, a health club and a conference room, it is being built by Maidstone-based builders Wallis on a five acre site at Castle View Farm, Forstal Road, Sandling - near junction six of the M20.

De Vere designs its hotels to be five star rated. The leisure areas in the Maidstone complex - including the gym, restaurants and pubs - will all be open to the public as well as guests.

The hotel will create 350 jobs in construction, hospitality and leisure. Alasdair McNee, director of marketing for De Vere, said: "The Village Hotel and Leisure Club is great news for Maidstone and will undoubtedly be a major asset to the region, in terms of business, tourism and local facilities."