SPECULATION is mounting this week that the Norbreck Castle Hotel will be sold in a multi-million pound deal next Monday.

Current owners Meridian Hotels, who took over when the company merged with the Yorkshire-based Principles Hotels, confirmed that the company has so far offloaded half a dozen hotels across the country but a spokesman stopped short of identifying the Norbreck as one of them, saying: "We can't confirm anything until the 16th."

It is understood a consortium of Irish businessmen are interested in acquiring the hotel.