Plans to demolish a restaurant have been put forward by a hotel chain which is looking to expand one of its Weymouth sites.

Premier Inn has submitted a planning application to Dorset Council to demolish what was once the Beefeater restaurant on Mercery Road.

The steak restaurant closed earlier this year and has since been used by Premier Inn as a restaurant for hotel guests only. The Premier Inn itself is just across the road.

The old Beefeater restaurant, left, could be demolished to make way for more rooms for the nearby Premier Inn  (Image: Hollie Carr) It now wants to demolish the existing hotel restaurant and replace it with a new, three-storey annex providing additional hotel bedrooms and a new hotel restaurant.

The site currently offers 87 bedrooms and the new annex will add an additional 35 rooms, if approved.

The existing restaurant facilities will be relocated within the new annexe and will have a capacity of 80 covers. The proposed replacement building would continue to face onto Mercery Road.

Proposals also show room for 14 additional parking spaces, bringing the total to 115.

READ: Beefeater Weymouth officially shuts its doors to public

According to the company’s application, there is growing demand for accommodation in the area.

“Premier Inn has identified a considerable demand for additional hotel accommodation in this location,” documents state.

A planning notice at the site on Mercery Road, Weymouth  (Image: Hollie Carr)“Equally, the existing hotel restaurant has shown a continued shortfall in demand. The applicant therefore seeks to reconfigure the hotel bedroom and restaurant offer on the site to ensure its success and future viability.

“Given the Premier Inn’s integral role in supporting the local economy, the necessity for additional rooms is apparent.”

(Image: Hollie Carr)

It says the plans ‘ensure that this extension will not only fulfil its functional purpose but also contribute positively to the visual landscape of the Weymouth Business Park.’

The Beefeater, which opened its Mercery Road site in 2013, officially shut in July following a huge shake up within the company.

At the time, Whitbread, which owned the restaurant and Premier Inn, revealed plans to axe around 1,500 jobs across the UK amid plans to slash its chain of branded restaurants by more than 200 in favour of building more hotel rooms.