THE former Pack Horse Hotel will be fully converted into luxury student digs by the end of July.

More than 70 students have now applied to live in the new Bolton town centre development, which will welcome its first tenants in September.

The landmark building is in the middle of a £3 million revamp, turning it into a 100-bedroom luxury halls of residence.

Each room will have a plasma TV and 65 of the rooms will have a “kitchenette”.

The other 35 rooms will have shared kitchen facilities.

Lyndon Forshaw, partner at developers Hamilton Black, said: “Construction is well under way and due for completion at the end of July this year.

“We’ve had a terrific response from students wanting to live there with more than 70 applications in less than three weeks, and that’s without them being able to see our showroom, which will be ready in about two weeks.

“We have shown a lot of existing students around the building and all those who have been round have applied to live there from September. Everyone is impressed with the facilities and location.”

Inquiries from new students have also come from France, Malaysia, Germany and Italy.

Students can look forward to a top-spec common room, housed in the former ballroom, with a large flatscreen television with Sky TV, pool and table tennis tables.

There will also be laundry facilities, an academic centre allowing students to study, a gym, and free WiFi internet.

Mr Forshaw said: “Our more expensive large studio rooms with kitchenettes are also proving very popular, which demonstrates today’s students in Bolton are willing to pay that bit more for the right home with additional facilities that the Pack Horse offers.”