Ambitious plans to transform a 50-acre former factory site into a £150 million hotel and restaurant complex have taken a step forward.

Whitehaven Developments wants to turn the former Alcan Pechiney site at Lillyhall into a site that could create more than 500 jobs.

The firm is now in detailed discussions with a potential end-user for part of the site which is focused on the logistics sector.

Simon Towers, managing director of Whitehaven Developments’ parent company NPL, based in Glasgow, said that once requirements for that part of the plan were locked down, the wider development could progress.

He said: "Talks are going well.

"I think it'll be in the first six months of this year that we submit an application.

"We also need to re-engage with Allerdale council, who have to date been very supportive."

The project could include a budget hotel with up to 80 bedrooms and a restaurant, a 10-pump filling station with car wash facilities and a drive-through coffee shop and office space.

Mr Towers previously said a planning application could be submitted early this year, with a view to demolition and improvement work to existing buildings taking place later this year.

Whitehaven Developments, a remediation specialist, acquired the site from Rio Tinto Alcan in 2014.

Alcan Pechiney, formerly Pechiney Aviatube and before that High Duty Alloys, made aluminium parts for the aerospace industry.

The factory closed in 2007 when production was transferred to France.

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