A VICTORIAN hotel that only reopened in the spring after a major renovation has gone into liquidation.

The Fleece Hotel in Richmond, which dates from 1897, was recently transformed from a dilapidated building into a luxury venue.

But it has now been placed into voluntary liquidation.

A statement from hotel says: "We apologise for the time it has taken to get this information to people, and understand the impact of this.

"We have benefited from having the most amazing staff and we have fought hard for the business to thrive. We would like to thank every one of them for their commitment and hard work.

"To our customers and suppliers, we are truly very sorry and this was unexpected.

"We have appointed a liquidator to process any queries and understand outstanding invoices / deposits that have been paid.

"We are in the process of contacting people that have made bookings with us directly to explain the process personally."