Visitors to the Imperial War Museum in Duxford may soon be able to stay on site after plans were submitted for a new hotel on the historic airfield.

Saffron Walden Reporter: An artist's impression of how the new hotel development could look. Picture: CONTRIBUTEDAn artist's impression of how the new hotel development could look. Picture: CONTRIBUTED (Image: Archant)

Billed as Britain's largest aviation museum, the site, located just off the M11, regularly hosts air shows and events, with attendances of up to 40,000 people.

A planning application has been submitted to South Cambridgeshire District Council for a 168-bedroom hotel, which would sit alongside and match the height of the AirSpace hangar.

According to the application the hotel will be a "core brand within a very well known international hotel group".

The plans describe the proposed hotel as "upper mid-scale," which will include a lounge, bar, restaurant and gym facilities.

The hotel will have 90 dedicated parking spaces, with an additional 30 overflow spaces for site events, and 25 spaces will be added to make up for the 45 spaces lost to make room for the hotel.

The application says: "The proposed development site is a quiet corner of the IWM site. It provides a unique opportunity to locate a hotel development which will link with and complement the growing conferencing business run by IWM within the AirSpace building."

The decision on approval will go to South Cambridgeshire's planning committee at the end of the set consultation period.