Plans to create a world class exhibition centre and hotel in Liverpool have been given the green light, according to the Liverpool Express.

It's all systems go for the new £40m Exhibition Centre Liverpool and £27m integrated hotel at Kings Dock, after the ambitious plans were approved by the city's planning committee.

It paves the way for work beginning, in late autumn, on the construction of the 8,100 sqm, three-hall exhibition centre and the 200-room 'headquarters' hotel, which will form part of ACC Liverpool, home to BT Convention Centre and Echo Arena.

The new facilities will be open in spring 2015.

Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: "This is fantastic news for Liverpool. I’ve pushed this project hard from the beginning, because I know the huge economic benefits it will bring to our city, attracting new visitors, boosting local business and creating jobs.

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"This decision from the planning committee means we can now press ahead with delivering an absolutely world class waterfront development."

Exhibition Centre Liverpool will be capable of hosting large scale conferences, trade and consumer exhibitions, concerts and sports events on a national and international scale. Plans for the facility include an atrium, meeting rooms and a business centre. The three halls will each be 2,700 sqm and will be separated by movable walls.

Pullman will be the brand for the integrated, upscale, four-star hotel, which will include up to 10,500 square metres of floor space and seven storeys of rooms, above a ground floor reception, lobby, restaurant, bar, meeting rooms and gym.

Pullman, which is owned by international hotel company Accor, has hotels all over the world, including all the major European cities, but currently only one in the UK, in St Pancras, London. Branded Hotel Management (BHM) was appointed as hotel operator in April this year.

(CD/MH)