Ambitious plans for an Albion hotel have been given the red card by planning officers who have recommended refusing planning permission to the club.

Brighton and Hove City Council planning officers have advised members of the authority’s planning committee to reject the plans when they come before them later this month.

The club had hoped that the proposed 150-bed Brighton Aloft hotel could be up and running by next summer but seem set for a major setback when the plans are discussed on February 17.

Albion bosses have said the new hotel, proposed for land between the American Express Community Stadium’s east stand and the railway line, would generate £6 million for the local economy and provide 82 jobs for local residents.

The site would feature a restaurant, bar, gym as well as a specialist cancer unit in the basement open to NHS patients.

The council has received independent advice from Crosthwaites Leisure Property Specialists who believe the development cost of a mid-range hotel makes it unviable and therefore requires the club’s subsidiary company The Community Stadium to build it at a loss.