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An inquiry is to be held into a new hotel and conference centre in Birmingham after it emerged its value was "considerably lower" than what it cost to build.

The Eastside Rooms, which is owned and run by trade Union unite, opened earlier this year but the escalating development costs meant the final bill was almost double that of the original budget.

The facility has a 195-bedroom Marriott 'Aloft' hotel, 23 meeting and event rooms, a pillar-free ballroom for use by both Unite and external clients and a regional office for the union's West Midlands team.

But now Sharon Graham, who was elected as the union's general secretary in August, has announced there will be a new QC-led inquiry into the spiralling costs of the scheme in Woodcock Street.

In February, our sister title the was "slightly over" £98 million, against an original budget of £57 million.

The Eastside Rooms, which was granted planning permission in 2015, sits in an emerging knowledge quarter in the city, counting Aston University, Birmingham City University and tech campus Innovation Birmingham among its neighbours while HS2 is just a short walk away.

Ms Graham said in a statement: "While the audit of the Birmingham hotel and conference centre gave the accounts a clean bill of health, a recent expert valuation has now estimated its value as being considerably lower than the costs incurred in developing the site.