The world's 'first mobile hotel room'

Fans back from a raindrenched V Festival might wish they had taken one of these - the "world's first mobile hotel room".

The Travelodge hotel chain said today that its Travelpod would soon be available at events such as music festivals and sporting competitions.

Designed to be set up anywhere you might put up a tent, it's cheering news for anyone who books into B&Bs at music festivals or panics about camping holidays.

The Travelpod - Travelodge's glamorous answer to a tent

The pod is sealed in a polycarbonate glass box, but includes features offered in conventional hotel rooms such as TV and air conditioning.

Leigh McCarron, Travelodge's director of sleep, called it "a ground-breaker in outdoor accommodation". The Travelpod, which measures 6 metres by 2.4, includes a double bed, bedside lights, carpeted floors, and dressing table - plus blinds.

A spokeswoman for Travelodge said: "The Travelpod is a ground-breaker in outdoor accommodation."

The Travelpod: Available soon at outdoor events such as music festivals or sporting competitions

She added, "With the popularity of outdoor sleeping we saw a definite niche in the market for something a bit more up-market".

When asked who will be hiring this glamorous answer to a tent, she replied

"One woman wanted 20 of them for the guests at her garden wedding to sleep in."

The Travelpod also has air conditioning, a flat-screen TV, an en suite wash room and a 'biodegradable' loo

"One man wanted one delivered to a beautiful spot in the Lake District, so he could propose to his girlfriend in it".

The Travelpod will be tested over the next couple of months.