TALKS are under way to build a new hotel in Didcot in the next two years to boost the number of visitors to the town.

Council officers at South Oxfordshire District Council say there is an urgent need for a hotel to attract visitors and firms.

The biggest hotel is a Premier Inn at the Milton interchange, where the A4130 links up with the A34, but that is three miles from the town centre.

Didcot development manager Kevin Clark, who works for the district council, said a new hotel had been included in the plans for the £125m phase two development of the Orchard shopping centre.

The expansion was announced by Hammerson earlier this year, with the aim of new stores opening in 2014.

But Mr Clark told the Oxford Mail: “The Orchard extension is probably not the best site.

“I think land opposite Didcot Parkway is the most obvious location. A new hotel would be a way of attracting people to stay, and a mid-range hotel operator would be ideal.

“We would like the hotel to be able to provide conference facilities as well.”

Town council leader Margaret Davies said: “At one point there were three hotels opposite the station, one for each class of passenger.

“It is very difficult to make Didcot a destination people want to visit without providing them a decent hotel.

“It will require good commercial nous to bring in a decent affordable chain, but I would like to see a new hotel in the next two years.”

Brian Key, 74, a former Didcot police superintendent and member of Didcot Rotary Club, said the club had nowhere to meet in the town.

He added: “At the moment, we have to go to the Steventon House Hotel for our meetings because there is nowhere suitable in Didcot.

“Didcot is growing enormously and is trying to attract visitors, but it desperately needs a decent hotel.”