First came Premier Inn’s interest in Falmouth, now Travelodge has set its sights on the town and is hoping to work with Cornwall Council to deliver a new facility.

The company, which describes itself as the UK’s largest independent hotel chain, has written to the council proposing a pioneering new development partnership to finance the construction of the first Travelodge hotels in Falmouth and in Penzance. 

The letter to the council comes on the back of the company announcing that it has secured three new hotel sites in such partnerships with other local authorities across the UK. 

These deals, with Cherwell District Council at Bicester, Breckland Council at Thetford and with Reigate and Banstead Borough Council at Redhill, are the first results from Travelodge’s drive to help local authorities make use of their local assets and regenerate local communities.

The hotels in the programme are built on surplus local authority land, with the funding provided either through the council’s internal resources or via low-cost funding from the Public Works Loan Board.

Upon completion of the hotel development, local authorities then have the choice of either retaining ownership of the hotel and using the rental income from Travelodge to support the funding, or selling the hotel with Travelodge as its operator and retaining the development profits for the benefit of local communities.

Peter Gowers, Travelodge chief executive said: “We are delighted to be working with leading local authorities to help local communities realise the income potential, job creation and other community benefits that a Travelodge-backed development scheme can bring to their area.

“There are considerable growth opportunities for Travelodge in the area and we are looking forward to adding further hotels to the portfolio as we extend the programme over the years ahead.”

While Travelodge was happy to provide details of its interest in Falmouth, the company said it did not have any information on specific sites that could be released.