Premier Inn, the budget hotel chain owned by Whitbread, has announced details of its most ambitious expansion plans yet: to build a site on the moon.

As far-fetched as it may sound, the company says that it is completely serious. Premier Inn has bought the option to build on a 43,500sq ft (4,000sq m) piece of the green cheese from a company called Moon Estates.

“This is not simply a publicity stunt,” said a spokesperson. “With recent developments in space travel, it seems likely that visiting the moon may soon become a reality. Should the time come when guests wish to stay in space, Premier Inn wants to be prepared.”

When asked whether someone who could afford to travel to the moon would want to stay in a budget hotel, the spokesperson claimed they would. “It is likely that travelling to the moon will be, to begin with, a considerable cost, making it even more important to have affordable quality accommodation to stay in,” they said.

Patrick Dempsey, managing director of Premier Inn, said: "Given the pace of space exploration and transportation possibilities beyond earth's atmosphere, we feel that it is now more feasible than ever to expect travel to and from the moon to become a common occurrence within the next 20-30 years."

Alex Flach, Premier Inn’s construction director, has been heading up a special team working in conjunction with Dr John Griffiths, freelance lecturer of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, to address the many issues of building on the moon’s surface and providing customers with a comfortable stay.

Flach added: “The challenges are unique and no doubt as we learn more about the moon from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaisance Orbitor mission scheduled to launch in October 2008, we will adapt and improve our designs further.”

Should the plans fail to take off, shareholders shouldn’t worry, as the option only cost the company £24. However, should Premier Inn decide to go ahead and build the hotel, the land will cost £1m.