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Westbridge Hotel Tower. Photo: Ian Simpson Architects
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Leicester's skyline is set to be transformed by a huge glass skyscraper.
Planners have approved proposals for the 39-storey hotel and apartment block, which will reportedly be the tallest building in the East Midlands.
Developer Westbridge Living is building the skyscraper on the banks of the River Soar, in Bath Lane, next to two smaller towers.
It will include a 200-bedroom five-star hotel, with 176 apartments, a bar and a basement car park.
More than £100m will be spent on the three towers in total and work could begin on site within the next six months.
The development is part of a masterplan aimed at transforming central Leicester with a series of ambitious schemes.
The Leicester Regeneration Company wants to see land next to the city's canals and River Soar transformed with mixed use developments.
It has also earmarked sites for a cultural quarter, an office complex and a neighbourhood of new homes.
Speaking after the city council's planning committee meeting, Westbridge Living managing director Ryan O'Neill said: "I'm more relieved than anything.
"Now we've got over that hurdle, we need to really get on with it and start delivering these buildings."
Copyright Press Association 2006
