SHOCKED brides and grooms have discovered their weddings have been cancelled at a Worthing hotel after it was reportedly sold.

Warnings by bridal shops were posted on Facebook that Highdown Hotel in Littlehampton Road, a former manor house set in the grounds of Highdown Gardens, has cancelled all weddings after September 17. One added that the hotel had not been notifying people about the cancellations.

One disappointed bride told The Argus that the hotel had told her it had been sold and was “clearing its diary” for refurbishment.

Hayley Ford, 27, and her fiancé Mike Jackson, 29, a self-employed builder, found out on Wednesday that their wedding and reception on August 17 next year has been cancelled.

It had been booked 18 months ago at their “ideal venue” and was planned to mark their tenth anniversary as well as coinciding with Hayley’s grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary.

“It is a big year for our family next year and this has been quite a shock,” she said. “We only found out because my dad had been regularly paying an amount towards our wedding in person and when he went in last Wednesday, they wouldn’t accept the money.

“He rang me straightaway and later that day the hotel rang me to tell me. They said they were informing me that the Highdown Hotel had been sold and the new owners wanted the diary cleared for refurbishment. I can’t remember being offered an apology. They said someone would be in touch with me about the money.”

The couple’s wedding and reception would have cost £5,000 and so far £1,500 of it had been paid. “We now looking for another venue,” said Hayley, a photographer at Worthing Hospital. “I’m going to see another one but it’s out of our budget. I feel like I’m starting from scratch. It’s so disappointing.”

Hayley, who lives in Worthing, added: “Their reputation as new owners is going to be absolutely terrible.”

Another “devastated” bride-to-be, Amy Holder, was told in May that the Highdown Hotel was being sold. She and her fiancé Kevin McMullan, who live in Littlehampton, had booked their wedding there in March for next June, paying £1,500 so far out of the total cost of £3,900. She said: “We are completely distraught.”

The Argus contacted the Highdown Hotel but the person who answered the phone said “no comment”.