A LUXURY holiday centre will create 250 jobs after its £45m flagship project got the go-ahead.

Beyond Escapes is planning to develop the former Pickering Showground site, which will include a variety of lodge and villa accommodation options.

The restaurant will cater for 200 sittings per evening, and there will be an on-site spa and gym.

It will be able to house more than 1,000 guests, offering a range of options including one, two, three and four-bedroom lodges with private hot tubs and four-bedroom deluxe lakeside villas.

The BE Events management space will also accommodate 5,000 visitors for conferences, festivals, events and weddings.

Jason Bruton, Beyond Escapes managing director, said: “Pickering has been our home from the beginning, so when it came time to select a base for our flagship experience there was never any doubt that it would be here.

"Yorkshire is such a diverse region, and we can’t wait to introduce more visitors to the area, so they can discover for themselves all that it has to offer.”