Travelodge has made a plea to a city council for taxpayers’ money to help them expand their business.

The hotel chain's directors have written to Brighton and Hove Council asking the authority to borrow millions of pounds on their behalf to build a new 100-room hotel.

The firm said the new hotel would create jobs in the community, help boost regeneration and generate double-digit profits for the council over time.

Independent hotel owners have criticised the move and said any council money should be given to local businesses that “have invested their lives in the city”.

A spokesman for the firm said it was looking to add to the more than 250 rooms that the chain currently has in the city at its hotels in West Street and Preston Road which currently employ 30 people.

He added that Brighton and Hove was one of the firm’s most popular all-year round locations.

Travelodge, which announced a pre-tax loss of more than £70 million last year, is hoping Brighton and Hove City Council will follow the lead of other authorities who have applied for multi-million pound loans from the Government’s Public Works Loan Board at a fixed low interest rate.

Travelodge has already successfully opened two hotels working with local authorities including an 81-room hotel in Aylesbury this week following an £18 million loan and Eastleigh Central Travelodge which opened earlier this year.

The company is also in advanced negotiations with a further five authorities across the UK about similar deals.

Paul Harvey, managing director for property at Travelodge Hotels, said: “If Brighton and Hove has suitable land or assets in a location that is viable for a Travelodge hotel, then we would be delighted to work with them to help boost their local economy, create new jobs within the community and generate a good return for their investment.”

Nick Head, of the Sussex Tourism Partnership and who runs the Ambassador Hotel in New Steine in Brighton, said: “Hotel owners like me and my colleagues had to dig into our lifesavings to survive the first three years of the recession where as Travelodge have had millions of pounds worth of debt written down from over-expanding too quickly and building hotels which weren’t required.

“Any council official or elected councillor should not give this proposal more than a minute’s consideration, they would be acting against the public interest.”