March could have a new hotel if plans to convert the former Middle Level offices next to the Hippodrome are given the go ahead.

Wetherspoon has submitted plans to change the former offices in Dartford Road to a hotel with a beer garden.

“The application site is currently vacant and detracts from the vitality and viability of March Town Centre,” says a report by Wetherspoon which is due to go before Fenland District Council’s planning committee.

The new hotel will: “Provide jobs, economic benefits and additional tourist infrastructure for the town.

“The intention is for the hotel to be operated in association with the adjacent Hippodrome free house,” it states.

The Hippodrome, which opened three years ago, is one of more than 890 establishments across the UK owned by the Wetherspoon brand employing more than 23,000 staff.

The office building, which dates back to 1904, has stood empty since Middle Level moved out to new purpose built offices in Whittlesey Road, March.

At the back of the site is what the report describes as “an unattractive two storey office building from the 1960s of uniform brick.”

“The change of use of the application site will further enhance the company’s investment in the town,” a report says.

Wetherspoon, which opened its first pub in 1979, places great emphasis on having high standards, attractive appearance for its venues and paying respect to heritage and conservation matters as well as high levels of accessibility for the mobility impaired, the report concludes.