A NEW 74-bedroom hotel in Faringdon is to be built with four electric car charging points.

The two-storey hotel and restaurant next door to the town's new Aldi will also be built above a 1,215sq m new shop.

Developers behind the plans have said they are proposing a 'high-quality amenity' at the new edge-of-town retail park by the A420 to benefit locals and visitors.

The group, calling itself GSC Estates (Faringdon) submitted its plans to Vale of White Horse District Council for approval.

It wrote: "The proposal would further increase retail choice for current Faringdon residents as well as the future needs of the growing town.

"The hotel would improve tourism in Faringdon and the surrounding areas bringing economic growth."

Including the electric car charging points the hotel will have a total of 142 parking spaces and 14 cycle spaces.

The designers have also included lines of trees in the car park and said they ensured views of Faringdon's famous hilltop Folly tower were maintained.

They added: "High-quality design is integral to this approach, both in terms of the attractiveness of the buildings and the setting.

"Design quality will inform the specification and detailing of materials to provide a robust and energy efficient building fabric to comply with current regulations, and in some cases it is likely that the specifications may exceed these.

"Wherever possible materials required for construction will be procured locally."

The retail park, dubbed Faringdon Park, was opened in March 2017 and is also home to a Waitrose and Costa coffee shop.

See the plans online at whitehorsedc.gov.uk using reference number P18/V0442/FUL