Construction work will begin on a hotel near Norwich's airport later this year after the coronavirus pandemic temporarily put the plans on hold.

An £11million Hampton by Hilton hotel will be a five minute walk away from the main terminal at the airport after planning permission was granted in December 2017.

Having been on the verge of signing the construction contract to build the hotel during the first week of lockdown last year, only the demolition on the site was able to take place during the height of the pandemic.

Appleby Leisure, which is behind the scheme, has appointed Truman Build as a contractor, and is looking to be on site to restart work during the autumn of this year.

The hotel, which is located at the junction of Spitfire Road and Anson Road, will be a 38-week build and will be the first Hilton hotel in the city.

A spokeswoman for Appleby Leisure said: "Like most people, we did not know what was going on at the time. Most developers stopped work until we found a bit more clarity in the economy.

"We did not want to open in January 2021 not knowing realistically what the economy and Covid rules would be like.

"It was just a pause to wait for vaccines and restriction easing to come into play. It will be a fantastic hotel."

She added that hotel restrictions have only recently eased as part of step three of the government's roadmap out of lockdown on May 17 when deciding on recommencing work.

An opening date is yet to be confirmed for the new hotel which is located on land that was most recently used as a vehicle rental business.

The hotel is expected to create 40 jobs and will have 126 bedrooms.

It was initially hoped that the hotel would be able to open by spring 2019.

Upon submitting the proposals to the city council in 2017, developers said the hotel would support the growth of the Aviation Academy as a place for those attending multi-day training courses to stay.