GUESTS in hotels at the Middlebrook Development might be getting a good bedtime read - a pamphlet about Horwich.

Town councillors dreamed up the idea while discussing a new proposal to build a hotel in the Reebok Stadium.

The town guide would be placed next to Gideon bibles on bedside tables to entice guests off Middlebrook and into Horwich centre.

The councillors applauded the planned hotel redevelopment on the south side of the stadium as an opportunity to draw more people into Horwich town centre.

Wanderers have put in a planning application for a spectacular 105-bedroom development on three levels with an entrance from De Havilland Way.

The rooms on the second floor would open out to a view of the pitch.

Town councillors were told no objections to the proposal had been received by Bolton Council.

Cllr Barbara Ronson said: "I cannot imagine that anyone would want to stay there on an industrial and commercial estate, I'm sure they will come and explore Horwich."

She added there could be no planning objections to the hotel because it was not going to mean external construction because the hotel is to be built inside the existing stadium building.

Council leader Kevan Helsby called the hotel an exciting innovation and added putting town guides next to the Gideon bibles was a good idea.

Cllr Michael Kilcoyne joked it was Wanderers players who needed a guide - to find where the goal posts were.

The suggestion of town guides in hotels will be put to tourism and leisure chiefs.

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