A new £350,000 hotel is to open in Oxford city centre.

The Bocardo, named after the city’s medieval prison, will be a 10-room hotel in George Street.

It is being developed by city hotelier Rajinder Pal and business partner Hardeep Gidda.

The premises, which occupy two floors above Jamie’s Italian, the restaurant owned by TV chef Jamie Oliver, have been empty since the Cock and Camel closed in 2008.

Renovation work has started, with new wiring, plumbing and bathrooms. The hotel entrance will be in George Street, next to Jamie’s.

Mr Pal said: “We had the option of just cleaning up the existing premises but we decided to do it using quality materials.

“It is a perfect location, the demand is there and we are investing for the future.”

The partners are aiming for the tourist market and although there is no parking, they point to the proximity of the car park at Worcester Street and the bus and rail stations.

Mr Pal also owns The Tree Hotel in Iffley and the Marlborough House Hotel in Woodstock Road, Oxford, as well as another hotel near High Wycombe.

Mr Gidda, who has known Mr Pal for more than 20 years, runs an information technology firm in Wolverhampton but is familiar with the city after son Sanj studied at Oxford Brookes University.

He said: “I love the city and have always enjoyed visiting, and when the opportunity came for this investment I leapt at the chance.

“We are confident about the market and see the development as being very positive for the local economy.”

The Bocardo is named after the prison which existed in Oxford city centre until 1771.

Situated near St Michael at the Northgate Church, its most famous inmates were the Protestant martyrs Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley in 1555.

Mr Gidda added: “There was a long list of names we looked at. We dipped into local history and discovered Bocardo.

“We are trying to bring a bit of history into the modern era.”

Four jobs will be created in time for the opening of the boutique hotel on April 2.

The Bocardo is the latest in a series of developments on the Oxford hotel scene. Last month the city council approved plans by Sojourn Hotels to convert a row of properties in St Michael’s Street, including the 17th-century Vanbrugh House.

And in Sandford, 38 new bedrooms will be created in two blocks at the Oxford Thames Four Pillars Hotel in Henley Road, after South Oxfordshire District Council granted permission.