ONE of Southampton's best-known hotels is to close within the next seven weeks after it was sold to a property developer, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Up to 30 jobs are to go at Highfield House Hotel in Portswood while scores of people who had booked for Christmas dinner have been left disappointed.

They are to be sent letters telling them their festive celebration is no longer on the menu.

Former owners, Newbury-based Zola Hotels, say the 66-bedroom building is almost certain to shut before Christmas, and is likely to be turned into houses or flats.

The closure of the three-star, £70 to £90 per night hotel, is almost certain to result in job losses among its 30 staff, although with the ink still wet on the deal, it is unclear how many.

Niall Caven, chief executive of Zola Hotels, blamed falling profits for the move but the company hadn't decided to sell, or even put it on the market.

More on this story in tonight's Daily Echo