Plans were unveiled today for a multi-million pound hotel which would offer budget accommodation in the heart of Bradford's City centre.

Developers want to take over a huge Bradford Council-owned office block to transform it into a hotel at a cost of at least £5 million.

An arcade of shops on the ground floor, including the Acropolis Restaurant, are expected to remain.

Landmark Development Projects Ltd, of Leeds, also revealed plans today for a similar hotel in Rooley Lane, Bradford.

Director Richard Morton said they were negotiating to buy the land and expected to submit a planning application.

The building which would house the new city centre hotel is next to the Old Bank pub and above shops at Market Street, Bridge Street and Broadway.

The developers are in talks with hotel operators and it is understood the accommodation would probably be priced at about £40 a night.

It comes as an hotel explosion is hitting Bradford and Shipley and the Stakis Norfolk Garden Hotel completes a major refurbishment.

A new, 100-bedroomed family hotel is also proposed in the planned Vicar Lane Leisure Development. And new hotels have opened in Shipley and Baildon - the Holiday Inn Express and the Marriott Hollins Hotel - and there are plans for another in Butterfield Industrial Estate, Shipley.

Manager of the quality Stakis, Jean Pierre Noret, said: "It is a bit worrying when hotels in Bradford aren't filled up yet and rooms are empty. But things may work the other way. In Leeds more hotels came in, but they all filled up."

Mr Morton said he was not concerned about competition from other hotels and believed Bradford needed a mix of operators. "Bradford is very short of hotels and we believe this is the right place."

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