Further revamp plans have been approved by a Co Antrim hotel.

The plans are for the Rabbit Hotel in Templepatrick, formerly called the Templeton (and, before that, the site of an old pub called the Pig and Chicken).

There is already planning permission for a new spa area and 46-bedroom block on the hotel, several miles north-west from Belfast International Airport.

The latest slice of the expansion plans to be approved for the site are the blueprints for "two new lobby areas".

They will be a prominent addition to the existing big revamp, but relatively small in scale, adding about 330sq ft to the property.

The hotel is owned by The Galgorm Collection (sometimes erroneously called The Galgorm Group), which is actually the brand name of Tullymore House Ltd – a huge firm which runs the Parisien and Fratelli restaurants, the Galgorm Hotel, and The Old Inn in Crawfordsburn.

Accounts show the group's turnover grew from £22.7m in 2021 to £45.1m in 2022, with operating profit growing from £3.6m to £8.5m in the same time.

The subsidiary dealing with The Rabbit Hotel is called Pig and Chicken Inn Ltd, and its 2022 accounts show an increase in turnover from £3.1m in 2021 to £7.9m in 2022, with operating profit growing from a loss of £389k to profit of £1.8m.

A planning report recently deemed the new lobby plans "acceptable" and permission was granted.

They must now be built within five years or permission will expire.