A LUXURY hotel is set to form part of a multi-million-pound redevelopment programme in a Waterfront parish.

New Forest District Council has approved plans to build a 40-bed complex on part of the old Husband's Shipyard at Cracknore Hard, Marchwood.

The hotel, which will include a bar and restaurant, will be a key feature of Marchwood's new-look waterfront.

An incinerator has been built at Marchwood Industrial Park, which adjoins the shipyard, and a power station is due to be constructed this year.

The hotel will be next door to a boatbuilding shed that has been used to restore a priceless collection of Second World War vessels.

They include three of the famous Little Ships that rescued thousands of British troops stranded at Dunkirk in June 1940.

As reported in the Daily Echo, the British Military Powerboat Trust and the Dunkirk Little Ships Restoration Trust have launched a desperate search for new homes for the craft.

They began their hunt for alternative accommodation after Oceanic Estates Ltd bought the shipyard and asked them to vacate the site.

Plans to build a hotel on part on the site were unveiled in July last year, when Oceanic's agent, Quayside Architects, applied for permission to build a three-storey complex with parking for 80 vehicles.

Members of Marchwood Parish Council supported the scheme, saying they would rather see a hotel on the land than more industry.

The application was withdrawn at the end of last year, but Oceanic later submitted new plans after amending the landscaping and footpath proposals. Now the revised scheme has been approved by council officers under delegated powers.

A parish council spokesman said: "A hotel will cut down on industrial use and the number of HGV movements as well as enhancing public access to the waterfront. It also has the potential to create local jobs."

An Oceanic spokesman was unavailable for comment.