THE owners of Morecambe's Midland Hotel have issued a public statement to stress that the £10 million restoration of the hotel is going ahead as planned.

Answering recent press speculation following the collapse of Imperial Consolidated - the business empire set up by the men who bought the hotel last year, the Kalber Leisure spokesman said: "The press coverage has intimated that the restoration of the Midland Grand Hotel might be effected by the fact that Imperial Consolidated has entered voluntary administration.

This is not the case.

Neither Lincoln Fraser, Jared Brook nor Imperial Consolidated have any ownership or financial control over the Midland Grand Hotel.

Jared Brook and Lincoln Fraser were previously owners of the hotel.

However, they sold their interest and it is now owned by Midland Grand Hotel Ltd which itself is backed by an equity management company.

The Hotel will continue to be operated and managed under the Kalber Leisure brand.

Mike Baron continues to be Chief Executive of Kalber Leisure.

Restoration of the hotel is fully underway with specialist developers currently removing asbestos from the property."