Weddings, birthdays and family gatherings have been cancelled at the Phoenix Hotel, which is being sold to a large high street pub chain.Claire Hudson and Adrian Houghton only had a few more arrangements to make before their dream wedding, due be held in December, was sorted.

Weddings, birthdays and family gatherings have been cancelled at the Phoenix Hotel, which is being sold to a large high street pub chain.

Claire Hudson and Adrian Houghton only had a few more arrangements to make before their dream wedding, due be held in December, was sorted. Then they heard the hotel was being sold to Wetherspoons.

Miss Hudson, 33, said: “I rang the hotel up and asked what was going on. Nobody could tell me anything. All I desperately wanted to know was whether I needed to start looking for another venue. But I kept being stalled.

“Weeks went by and I got so stressed. I've spent ages planning this. If I needed to find another venue then I'd rather have got on with it rather than not knowing.

“No-one would pick up the phone or get back to me. Eventually I spoke to the manager of the company that owns the Phoenix and they said I'd have to look for somewhere else.

“If I had not have realised what was going on it might have been months before they told me my wedding couldn't be held there.

“Then to make it even worse he said he'd make it up to us by giving our deposit back. That's it. The new venue is another £600 more. I hadn't budgeted for that. And for all the hassle they've caused us all we get is our money back. Not even an apology.”

Andrew Watson, operations manager of Elizabeth Hotels who own the Phoenix, said: “I think we've drawn a deadline for the end of August.

“After that we'll be saying to people it's unlikely that the Phoenix will be at its present format. I don't know how many events are booked past that date. We'll refund the deposits.”