A hotel and popular wedding venue in Kent which turned down a £1million offer to house newly-arrived asylum seekers has been forced to close its doors.
The Blazing Donkey Country Hotel, near Sandwich, is just a few miles from the Channel beaches where countless small boats have landed.
Now, after 36 years under the ownership of Richard and Sherry Martin, administrators have been appointed amid financial pressures and personal tragedy.
Mr Martin revealed in 2022 that he was offered £1,080,000 and a guarantee of 100% occupancy for 12 months at the 22-bedroom hotel, which had recently won a prestigious AA rosette for its food and service
'We spent 30 years building up the business but the money doesn't come into it,' he said at the time. 'We didn't consider the offer at all as our reputation would have been shattered overnight.
