AFTER months of waiting, work on the new £7 million Whitbread Travel Inn hotel in Southamp-ton's inner city has finally got under way.

Dominic Johnson-Allan from Whitbread said that the 172-room hotel, on the site of Clifford House at Six Dials, will boast a rooftop restaurant and should be open for business by January 2002 at the latest.

Both Southampton City Council and Whitbread were exasperated by the months of delay imposed on the project while they waited for the go-ahead to back the scheme with regeneration funds.

The size of the grant meant it had to be rubber stamped by Seeda - the South East Economic Development Agency.

He told the Daily Echo: "We are very excited about the prospect of entering into Southampton at a time when there is so much development going on in the city."

The chairman of the Southampton Regeneration Board, Councillor Paul Jenks, said the hotel would provide an attractive gateway to the city centre and play a key role in the revival of its neighbourhood.

Regeneration cash totalling £250,000 has been granted to the scheme which sits on the edge of the £12 million St Mary Street redevelopment. This includes 83 new homes, a doctor's surgery and a new market square.

A total of 28 properties will be demolished to make way for the new buildings.