BUILDING work has started on East Lancashire's first Hilton hotel.

Development of the new hotel, which will form the centrepiece of the £100million Frontier Park complex, is now well underway.

Hampton by Hilton Blackburn is expected to bring 150 rooms and conferencing facilities for 1,400 delegates to the Whitebirk site.

The Hilton expansion will make it the 29th nationally, with a further 20 currently planned for both the UK and Ireland over the next few years.

The announcement is the latest addition to Frontier Park, after the completion of Euro Garages’ £5.25million retail site, including a drive-thru KFC and Greggs, Spar, Starbucks and Totally Wicked outlet. which created 135 jobs.

A wider distribution, logistics and manufacturing hub will take up the remainder of the site.

Brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, the driving force behind the Euro Garages chain, are partners in the new venture, with their fledgling outfit Monte Hospitality.

Monte has signed a franchise agreement with the Hilton offshoot, which also has a location on Blackpool’s South Promenade, with an opening date in 2020 envisaged.

Cllr Miles Parkinson, Hyndburn Council leader, has described Frontier Park, which is actually in Hyndburn but is close to the border with Blackburn, as a "significant" contributor to the local economy.

Speaking when the development was first announced, Cllr Phil Riley, regeneration executive member at Blackburn with Darwen Council, added: “This is bringing a quality hotel name into the area and can only be a good idea.

“We currently don’t having anything like this locally.”