A PREMIER Inn, a Whitbread pub restaurant and a Lidl supermarket look set to be built in Minehead after district councillors paved the way for the former Aquasplash site and land off Seaward Way to be sold for development.

While low-cost supermarket chain Lidl was chosen as the preferred bidder for the Aquasplash site off Vulcan Road, councillors changed their minds at the 11th hour and opted for Whitbread rather than Marston's to take on the Seaward Way land.

Whitbread would bring with it the budget hotel chain Premier Inn, while Marston's plans would have included a smaller Travelodge.

Cllr Kate Kravis, West Somerset Council's lead member for finance, told Wednesday's full council meeting: "The two bids were pretty close in content and on merit.

"Whitbread's bid had a greater emphasis on a hotel offer with a pub, while Marston's was pretty much the other way around."

She said councillors had decided to back Whitbread as they felt its bid would bring greater economic benefits for the area's tourism and business trades.

Cllr Martin Dewdney said: "Premier Inn is the biggest brand for the business traveller and many now travel out of the area and stay in Taunton or Wellington, which is why I support this."

He said Lidl was also known for paying wages well above the national minimum wage.

Minehead member Cllr Andrew Hadley added: "Many of the families in my area are on pretty low wages and anything that can be brought to Minehead to help bridge the gap between what they earn and what they have to pay out should be welcomed."

While Lidl and Marston's had submitted the highest bids for the sites - Whitbread's was the second highest for the Seaward Way land - the district council has not revealed how much they are willing to pay for them.

Councillors went into private session for 45 minutes to discuss the financial implications of both deals before formally voting 23 in favour and one against.

The authority had agreed to consider selling off the sites earlier in the year in an attempt to pay off a £3.5 million debt.

The former Aquasplash site, the purpose-built visitor information centre on Minehead seafront and land originally earmarked for a new swimming pool off Seaward Way were all marketed for sale.

But while two of the three plots are set to be sold, the visitor centre could now be leased to a third party by the council.

Councillors will have to wait, probably until the new year, for the finer points of the development deals with Lidl and Whitbread to be drawn up before make a final decision on the land sales.

Only Cllr Jon Freeman voted against the proposal, claiming a Premier Inn would "lower the tone" of the area and there was no need for another supermarket in the town.

His views on Lidl were echoed by Graham Sizer, chairman of Minehead and District Chamber of Trade, who claimed another supermarket should only be tolerated on a site closer to the town centre.

As for developing the Aquasplash site he said: "The public would welcome it and it would save the council from insolvency, but those are not planning reasons and the council knows it.

"Whatever happens to West Somerset Council, the high street will be left a very bad legacy."

Cllr Freeman said the council was throwing away the district's only chance of having a new swimming pool by selling the land to Lidl.

But council leader Cllr Tim Taylor said the only way the area could have another pool was if it was built and run by either a charity or a community-led consortium.

He said the council could not afford the £500,000 a year costs to run a pool and members had to act responsibly to protect frontline services by selling the land to pay off debts to save money.

"If we act irresponsibly then it is the people of West Somerset who will suffer," he said.

Councillors were told a community group led by Peter Wellstood of the Pro-Active Lifestyle and Swimming Water Activities Club had called for the leisure land to be safeguarded as a future potential plot for a new swimming pool.

But while they supported his intentions, councillors said they could not back his proposal as his business case was "embryonic" with no plans in place to secure the estimated £4 million needed to build a new pool.

Speaking at the start of the meeting, Mr Wellstood said he was "appalled" by the council's plans to sell to a supermarket and a pub chain and warned councillors they were there to serve residents.

He said his group had been doing a job the council should have been doing by investigating proposals for a new pool and said it was not residents' fault that the council had debts.

But Cllr Kravis said that while a new pool could only be delivered by a community-led consortium, but Mr Wellstood was not yet at that stage with his plans.

"If they had come forward with a £4 million funding package on the table or a 200-strong community group with a report on how to fund a new pool, it would have been a very different and difficult decision, but they are not at that stage," Cllr Kravis said.

The Aquasplash pool was closed in October 2007 after the 15-year-old facility sprung a leak, repairs were deemed too expensive and the council said it could not afford to run the facility.