Chester-le-Street station is to be added to the Intercity route - but warnings have been issued that unless more hotels are built, the town will lose out on trade.

Virgin Trains has just announced that it will soon be stopping its high-speed trains at the market town.

But station master Alex Nelson has said that unless more accommodation can be provided, the town could miss out on a golden chance to become a base for tourists and business visitors to the region.

Virgin decided to add the market town to its Intercity network after a review of rail routes in Britain by the Strategic Rail Authority, which is looking to ensure there are not too many trains on the busiest sections of rail and improve train reliability.

The 100mph Virgin trains will replace some of the slower, local trains during off-peak hours and will mean passengers can travel directly from Chester-le-Street to major destinations.

Chris Green, chief executive of Virgin Trains, visited Chester-le-Street station last week, where he spoke to Mr Nelson about introducing the alterations next May.

Mr Nelson, who is head of the independent company that runs the station, Chester-le-Track, welcomed the news as a major coup for the town. But he said they now needed the facilities to attract tourists and business people.

He said: "The rail companies are keen to advertise Chester-le-Street as a destination, with its connection with the Lindisfarne Gospels and Beamish Museum nearby. But the challenge now is finding a hotel, because we have trains bringing people here, but they'll have nowhere to stay. There's Lumley Castle - but that will be beyond the budget of many people visiting for a weekend - and there's several pubs which offer accommodation, but they're only small. It's a major deficiency for the town."

Town centre manager Christine Davies said: "The problem I have is that Chester-le-Street is surrounded by greenbelt, so finding land to build a hotel on is my biggest grief."

"I desperately want to get a hotel in the town, because it's all very well and good getting a Heritage Trail set up to attract visitors and Virgin trains stopping, but we need major accommodation to house people in."

Allan McLean, regional corporate affairs manager for Virgin Trains, said up to 13 high speed trains a day would stop at Chester-le-Street.