CONGRATULATIONS to Stockton Borough Council on the building of the publicly funded Hilton Hotel (Echo, Sept 14).

Financially this looks to be a real winner, for a mere outlay of £17m over a 35 year period, it is “hopefully” to return a profit of approximately £240,000 a year.

So in very approximate figures a loan of £500,000 a year plus interest charges, brings a return of £240,000 profit, amazingly this is approximately a 50 per cent return. Strange how there were no private investors interested in the development.

The independent business report commissioned by SBC was based on 85 per cent occupancy. I can only think it must have been partly based on SBC’s expectation of 200,000 people visiting Stockton each year when the Globe re-opens, almost 4,000 people each week.

With the road links to the north and south why would anybody stay in Stockton, perhaps to wander up the high street’s charity shops, pubs, banks, and betting shops?

Presumably if the hotel is unsuccessful the group leasing the building can walk away leaving SBC’s council tax payers to foot the bill for years to come (35 to be precise).

Fred Branson, Billingham