Plans for a new boutique hotel in the heart of Belfast's emerging Titanic Quarter have been welcomed by a local MLA.

The themed five-star complex will be developed at Harland & Wolff headquarters, where original plans were drafted for the doomed liner.

Boasting 90-bedrooms, the proposed hotel, located at Queen's Island, will also offer a gym, swimming pool and spa facilities.

A spokesman for the developers, Titanic Quarter Ltd, said plans were drawn up in consultation with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency to ensure the building would be appropriately refurbished and restored.

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East Belfast MLA Robin Newton welcomed reports that a planning application to develop the historic site has been submitted.

"We must do all we can to protect the good name and heritage of the Titanic, whilst looking to the future and recognising its value as an economic generator for the people of east Belfast, and indeed for Northern Ireland as a whole," he said.

"It is projects such as this which will become flagship achievements for the new Northern Ireland, helping to sustain the province through the economic downturn and ensuring it is well placed to benefit from future growth.

"I applaud the ambitious nature of this work, and indeed the Titanic Quarter project as a whole, demonstrating how Northern Ireland, quite literally, is thinking big in building for the future."

(PR/KMcA)