DEVELOPERS have unveiled £20million plans to build a hotel, retail and leisure complex in the East End of Glasgow.

Supermarket giant Morrisons is behind proposals to create a 300-bedroom hotel in Easterhouse.

The guesthouse would be built alongside 80,000sq ft of shops, a 20,000sq ft leisure centre and a bar restaurant on vacant land beside its superstore near the Glasgow Fort shopping centre.

Outline plans for the ambitious development, earmarked for a site off Westerhouse Road, have been submitted to the council who will study the masterplan in the autumn.

Glasgow Fort, which opened to shoppers in October 2004, is already in line for a £25m expansion next year.

Backers of the Morrisons' plan hope further development will regenerate the whole of Easterhouse.

Peter Carus, senior planner at the supermarket's agents GVA Grimley, said: "Morrisons has a clear interest in Easterhouse and has made a long-term commitment to the area.

"It is considered that the current proposals will contribute to the overall delivery of the regeneration of the area.

"Further development of this site will create a strong link between Glasgow Fort and the wider town centre."

The Morrisons at Auchinlea Way became the chain's first custom-built Scots supermarket when it opened in June 2005.

The Fort, which lies just off the M8, attracts around 12m shoppers. It's hoped the expansion will create 500 jobs by the time it's completed at the end of 2009.

The centre already offers a range of shopping across 400,000sq ft of floor space. The refurbishment will create an extra 175,000sq ft in the horse shoe-shaped park.

Last October, Premier Inn announced plans to build a £5.5m hotel at Glasgow Business Park.

It will be located in the Swinton area of the city, between Easterhouse and the M8.

A spokesman for Morrisons said: "We have applied to gain planning permission for the last piece of land at our Auchinlea site, which forms part of the new Town Centre Action Plan.

"This is all part of completing the Auchinlea development."