A floating Dutch prison-turned-hotel has sparked complaints after its building plans had to be halted by the council.

Owners of the 148-bed “premium” Good Hotel commenced work on placing the foundations, known as “piles”, to hold the boat in place without prior council approval, resulting in objections by nearby residents.

The not-for-profit hotel, which will be based at Royal Victoria Dock for five years, arrived into Newham from Amsterdam on Friday.

Royal Docks resident Elizabeth Willers said: “I’m really disappointed that they [Good Hotel] are not complying with the conditions set by the council.”

On its website, the Good Hotel group states that it is a “social business that re-invests its profits into education, training and entrepreneurship”.

Despite founder Marten Dresden saying the hotel would provide 60 people in Newham with employment and “support those who train with us to secure long-term employment”, 112 objections were lodged against its planning application earlier this year.

Residents say they are concerned that the hotel will “look completely out of character” with its setting and will lead to noise complaints.

A council spokeswoman said: “We are aware that work to place the piles, which will ultimately hold the boat in place, did start before we had concluded our assessment of the details.

“As soon as we became aware of this, we contacted the developer and the work ceased.

“We are comfortable that the developer is taking steps to ensure that there are no outstanding issues that would prevent the successful completion of this project.”

The Good Hotel has been contacted for comment.