THE company which owns Gorleston's Cliff Hotel has gone into administration.A chain of hotels and pubs across East Anglia have been put up for sale after the companies behind them went into administration on Tuesday.

THE company which owns Gorleston's Cliff Hotel has gone into administration.

A chain of hotels and pubs across East Anglia have been put up for sale after the companies behind them went into administration on Tuesday.

The 14 hotels and 13 pubs were placed into the hands of KPMG due to financial liabilities of three companies owned by Suffolk property millionaire Richard Cattermole.

Hotels and pubs taken over by KPMG include the Gorleston hotel, the Dukes Head Hotel in King's Lynn, Lowestoft's Hotel Hatfield, the Wherry Hotel in Oulton Broad, the Bell in Brandon and the Five Bells in Bury St Edmunds.

Today KPGM said the hotels and pubs would remain open in the short term while potential buyers were sought.

And joint administrators Allan Graham and Jane Moriaty said they hoped they could honour all customer deposits paid for events at hotels and pubs over the Christmas period.

The three businesses that were owned by Mr Cattermole and placed into administration were Cavendish Hotels Ltd, Elizabeth Estates (BS) Ltd and Elizabeth Hotels Ltd.

Mr Graham said: “The companies financial liabilities made it impossible to continue running the businesses as they stood.

“We will continue to trade the businesses in the short term while a buyer is sought for the hotels and pubs - individually or as a group.”