A hotel is doubling in size and modernising its restaurant in a bid to lose its formality.

Work has already begun on extending the privately-owned Gomersal Park Hotel in Moor Lane at a cost of £3.4 million and is due to finish with a grand opening in July.

The hotel, which has 50 bedrooms at present, will expand to 101 rooms and the 70-seater Harlequins Restaurant will increase to seat 120. The kitchen is doubling in size and two extra function rooms will be built, to add to the existing five.

The design of the new-look hotel has been based on nearby Oakwell Hall. General Manager Gavin Jack, pictured, who has been at the hotel for seven years, said: "There are two peaks on the roof design of the new hotel and it has large windows in the same style as Oakwell Hall. We told the architects to look at Oakwell Hall and see what the local architecture looked like when it was built and to create something sympathetic to that.

"We will have bigger rooms and four of them will overlook the grounds. There will be five extra family rooms with adjoining children's rooms, all of which will be en-suite."

The hotel and restaurant remain open to guests during the alterations. Fish which were moved from a pond in the grounds have been placed in a temporary paddling pool on the roof of the building until they can be returned to their home.

Mr Jack said the hotel, which has a licence to carry out civil wedding ceremonies, was hoping to lose some of its formality. "One of the main features of the development will be the restaurant," he said, "We want people to be able to come just for a meal or a drink and it will have its own identity. We want it to have a more cafe-bar type feel to it rather than a hotel restaurant.

"In the summer people will be able to dine out on the terrace, overlooking the gardens. We want to move away from the formality and make the place more 'happening'."

The expansion of the hotel will also create about 30 new jobs for chefs, receptionists and chambermaids.

Keith Joplin, president of Spenborough Chamber of Trade and area trade co-ordinator, said: "At a cost of £3.4 million, this is a sizeable investment in the Spen Valley and as president of the Chamber, I am delighted.

"This work fits beautifully into the Spen Heartbeat project which aimed to create a tourist area in Spen. The hotel's beauty is that it is so central for easy access to the motorway network yet it is in a wonderful rural setting and the grounds are classed as parkland."

The leisure complex at the hotel, which features a swimming pool, gym, jacuzzi and sauna will remain unchanged during the alterations.