Bosses of a Whitehaven hotel have quashed rumours that it will be welcoming asylum seekers – and remains open for business.
The Chase Hotel in Corkickle has been owned for 30 years by Brian Proctor. Assistant manager Rebekka Schwarzer says he has no plans to close its doors to paying guests.
Rumours have been circulating in the town for the last few weeks that the hotel would be following in the footsteps of the Waverley Hotel on Tangier Street and become a base for those seeking asylum.
Rebekka said: “It’s absolutely not true. Brian has run the hotel for 30 years and plans to continue to run it.
“We’ve had so many phone calls and emails asking us this question – we just want to put people’s minds at rest – especially those who have got bookings with us.
“We have absolutely no intention to change the way we operate and the hotel is not for sale.”
She added that the venue had been directly approached by the Home Office earlier this year to see if it would take asylum seekers, but the Chase had declined.
She added: “We’re wondering if the rumours stem from the fact that we will be closing to give our staff a Christmas break from December 23 to January 3. There’s nothing unusual in this – we’ve closed over Christmas for the last 10 years.”
