Travelodge has announced plans to open more hotels at seaside resorts, creating hundreds of new jobs.

The company said it was looking to open 26 new hotels in coastal towns under a multimillion-pound investment, creating 650 new jobs.

Travelodge opened its first seaside hotel in Brighton in 1999 and has opened its 36th at Rhyl in North Wales.

New locations include Lerwick on the Shetlands, Pwllheli in North Wales and areas of Cornwall, Jersey and Guernsey.

Tony O’Brien, Travelodge UK development director, said: “We are seeing the rebirth of British seaside resorts and coastal towns as a result of Britons changing holiday habits.

“We are becoming a strong staycation nation that likes to take lots of short breaks throughout the year rather than a traditional two-week block holiday.

“To support this growing trend, we are looking to enter new markets and extend our network of coastal location hotels so that we can offer more choice and greater value to the modern leisure traveller.

“There are significant regeneration and modernisation projects taking place in seaside towns and cities across the UK, and we have identified 26 coastal areas that could benefit from a Travelodge hotel.

“We will kick-start our expansion programme by writing to the local authority in each region to see if we can play a pivotal role in their regeneration programme like we have done in Rhyl.”

Alan Jones is PA Industrial Correspondent.