THESE dramatic pictures show the progress that has been made on a £60million project to build two new Hilton hotels in Bournemouth.

Builders started construction work on the Terrace Mount site last September, marking a major milestone for the prime town centre site.

And despite one of the wettest winters on record, tonnes of rubble have now been unearthed ready for the workers to begin building two Hilton hotels, 60 apartments and over 200 parking spaces.

The development is spearheaded by London-based THAT group, which counts Ray Kelvin, the founder of the Ted Baker clothing company amongst its backers.

It’s hoped one of the hotels will be awarded five-star status, the first Bournemouth hotel in some time to achieve that standard. This will be topped with a sky bar, which will offer superb views across the town centre. The other is proposed to be a three-star hotel.

Cllr David Smith, central ward councillor, said: “I’m absolutely delighted with the progress the THAT group is making on the development.

“They’re working closely with the neighbours to mitigate any inconvenience to them and that seems to be working well, with no major issues of concern.

“I think they’re about a week behind schedule, purely because there were a few days when it was just too windy to use the cranes safely. It will be a fantastic development for the town and it shows that investors have got confidence in Bournemouth.”