SCARBOROUGH’S Royal Hotel has gone into administration, along with three other hotels, putting 159 jobs at risk.

The famous hotel, built in the 1830s and stayed in by Prime Ministers Winston Churchill and Harold Wilson, along with the town’s 70-bedroom Clifton Hotel, appointed administrators MCR.

The 118-bedroom Royal Hotel, which employs 77 people, is known for its famous staircase and atrium of the Regency style after the site used to be The Long Room, a social venue frequented by the upper classes in the 1700s. It was extended in 1863 over six or seven houses, one of which was where Ann Bronte died.

More recently, the hotel, which overlooks the South Bay, has included Gwyneth Paltrow and Robbie Coltraine, among its guests.

The Clifton Hotel, which employs 30 people and overlooks the North Bay, was where First World War poet Wilfred Owen was posted in 1917 and where he wrote one of his first poems “Miners”.

David Whitehouse, partner at MCR, said the hotels continue to trade as they review their financial position with a view to selling them.

He said: “Both the Clifton and the Royal have strong reputations and high levels of occupancy. There is significant interest in these hotels and we would expect to complete a sale of the hotels as a going concern over the coming weeks.”

The Wrea Head Hotel in Scarborough and Hackness Grange Hotel, have also appointed administrators PriceWaterhouseCoopers. The two hotels employ 52 people between them and Chris Rooney, joint administrator and director at PwC, said they have not made any redundancies and bookings can still be made while they seek a buyer for the businesses.

He said: “The companies have experienced recent financial difficulties and cash-flow problems, leading to the insolvencies. The two hotels continue to trade and existing bookings will be honoured until further notice, while a buyer for the business and assets is sought.”

The Royal and Clifton hotels are both part of ERH (Scarborough) a sister company of English Rose Hotels plc, which operates the Hackness Grange Hotel, and The Wrea Head Hotel Limited is also a sister company. The English Rose Hotels portfolio also includes The Green Man Inn in Malton and The Villa Esplanade self-catering apartments in Scarborough, but these businesses are operated as separate companies and have not appointed PWC or MCR as administrators.