Irish-American hotel operator the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group have submitted a planning application on a prime site in Edinburgh city centre.

A 63-room boutique hotel and bar-restaurant development at the north side of Waterloo Place would allow the hotel group who currently have concerns only in New York and Dublin to expand into Scotland.

If the application is approved the Scottish-Irish property group Beaghmor, which owns the building, will run the hotel for the Fitzpatrick group.

A spokeswoman for the company said: "We aren't able to say too much about this particular site at the moment.

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"However, although the company currently only has hotels in New York and Dublin, it is very much looking to expand and Edinburgh is one of the prime areas it has targeted."

Property experts believe the eastern part of Edinburgh city centre will be a major boom area over the next few years due to the tram system, the redevelopment of the St James Centre and the new Caltongate development.

The Fitzpatrick Hotel Group started as a small family run business in Ireland when Paddy and Eithne Fitzpatrick converted the castle, which overlooks Dublin Bay, into a hotel. In addition to the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel on the outskirts of Dublin the family own The Morgan and The Beacon hotels in the city.

Their son John runs the Fitzpatrick Grand Central and Fitzpatrick Manhattan in New York, while his brother Paul runs The Morgan and The Beacon in Dublin.

Both sons are close friends of the Clintons and John has been a major fundraiser for Hillary's election campaign.

(GK/JM)