A family-run hotel and wedding venue in Kent which snubbed a £1million offer to house illegal migrants has been forced to close down after 36 years of operation.
The Blazing Donkey Country Hotel, close to the historic town of Sandwich, has been owned by Richard and Sherry Martin since 1989.
Administrators have now been appointed following severe financial restraints and personal tragedy.
In 2022, Mr Martin disclosed that he was offered a 100 per cent occupancy guarantee for one year alongside an offer of more than £1million to house illegal migrants at the 22-bedroom hotel.
The Blazing Donkey Country Hotel, close to the historic town of Sandwich, has been owned by Richard and Sherry Martin since 1989
|Explaining his decision to snub the offer, the hotelier said: "We spent 30 years building up the business but the money doesn't come into it.
"We didn't consider the offer at all as our reputation would have been shattered overnight.
"Quite honestly my wife and I felt repulsed and very angry that they would think I would ever consider it."
He added at the time of the offer, the business was in a positive financial position and therefore accepting the proposal would have been a "12-month fast buck".
The hotel's restaurant manager Christopher Cooper said that accepting the Home Office's offer would represent a 'betrayal of the staff'
| GETTYMr Martin added: "I could not believe they even approached us as they must have known that such a move would mean letting down all our couples who have weddings booked for next year, not to mention our hotel, restaurant and glampsite clients.
"The government are effectively becoming disruptors in the hotel industry.
"I hope no other hotelier in the county worth their salt considers this sly approach."
The hotel's restaurant manager Christopher Cooper said that accepting the Home Office's offer would represent a "betrayal of the staff".
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Mr Martin disclosed that he was offered a 100 per cent occupancy guarantee for one year alongside an offer of more than £1million to house illegal migrants
|THE BLAZING DONKEY HOTEL
Mr Martin experienced a heart-breaking personal tragedy in January when his wife passed away from brain stem cancer at the age of 63.
Administrators have said without the couple's day-to-day involvement following the tragedy, the business quickly became unsustainable.
Mr Martin is now believed to be in poor health and unable to return to the hotel.
A statement from Edenlodge Associates Ltd read: "Since the couple withdrew from the business, the team that remained in post were able to deliver all events.
'However, despite significant and sustained cash injections from the couple's personal resources, without the wider core business operating alongside, and with overheads remaining high, it has become impossible to continue hosting these events and operating the business in any form."
The closure has left couples who had booked the venue for their weddings in limbo.
Bride-to-be Kenna Nicholson, who forked out over £12,000 on booking the hotel for her wedding on Friday, said: "We're devastated - our whole day is just gone.
"I sympathise with the owner, but the way they've gone about it is disgusting.
"The communication has been terrible - we've had four wedding coordinators in that time, which seemed odd."