A NEW hotel which is due to open this month is creating 40 new jobs in Leigh.

The 85-bedroom Sporting Lodge Inn in Warrington Road -- formerly the Greyhound -- includes a leisure complex, restaurant, meeting rooms and banqueting suites.

Sporting Lodge Inns -- which has a parent company registered in Guernsey -- acquired the building for £900,000 18 months ago and has undertaken a £4 million refurbishment programme.

The upgrade has been funded through private investors and a £2.5 million term loan from Yorkshire Bank's Manchester Regional Business Centre.

Mr Andy Thurston, Sporting Lodge's Finance Director, said: "The aim of the refurbishment was to provide a modern, comfortable hotel with a range of facilities that could be enjoyed at reasonable cost by residents and non-residents alike."

He said they had chosen Yorkshire Bank "because their pricing was competitive, they understood our business plan, were prepared to provide the capital we needed and were willing to be flexible about how the funding package was constructed."

The group's other hotel -- at Idle, near Bradford, has been open for about three years.

The management team has earmarked another four sites in the north of England for further hotels.

TOASTING THE FURTURE: Mr Thurston (right) is pictured with Paul Shephard, manager at Yorkshire Bank's Manchester business centre