New clash breaks out over funding for hotel

STOCKTON Tories have blasted Labour over Stockton's Hilton Hotel finances.

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT and DANIEL HODGSON

Conservatives who sit on Stockton Council have called out what they describe as “disingenuous claims” by local Labour politicians about how much the hotel has boosted local services.

They add that there has been a failure to deliver a quarter of a million pounds each year from hotel profits for local services.

The Hampton by Hilton Hotel in Stockton town centre, owned by the local council, opened in 2019 and politicians have repeatedly clashed over its finances.

Council leaders said it is going “from strength to strength” after Covid affected its early years of trading, as they said that the publicly-owned hotel has put more than £450,000 into council services - with £267,000 from the hotel’s 2023/24 performance alone.