WHEN Claire Pitman got engaged to partner Simon Phillips last May, she wasted no time in planning her dream wedding. The pair viewed dozens of venues across the city, but settled on Redwood Hotel and Country Club.

From the spacious function rooms to the vast and picturesque gardens, the venue offered everything Claire had envisaged.

But when Claire's phone rang on Wednesday, just 11 weeks before the big day, her dream came crumbling down as Redwood announced it would be closing in August and cancelled the wedding booking.

Claire said: "I just burst into tears, I couldn't believe it.

"They have promised us a full refund, and are trying to find us somewhere else, but with just 11 weeks to go it's the last thing you need."

The 28-year-old is now desperately trying to find somewhere else to hold the wedding, but with less than three months to go until the planned date of September 13, it's proving difficult.

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She said: "I spent six hours on the phone on Wednesday ringing round venues, but the only one that was available was £3,000 more than we paid for Redwood.

"The staff at Redwood have also been trying to find us somewhere. They found one place but it is just not what I had pictured for my wedding.

"We chose Redwood because we wanted somewhere with a bit of greenery and a family feel."

All 160 of the couples's guests had already selected their meal option for the reception, and Claire and Peter had handmade all of the invitations and personally delivered them to guests.

"All of that time and energy is wasted now, and we have all this added stress. Luckily the ceremony is taking place in a church, which is the most important thing, I guess, I just hope we can find somewhere."

Claire added that although her and Simon are upset by the news, they know the staff at Redwood are not to blame.

She said: "The lady who we have been dealing with has been very sympathetic. She is trying to find a new venue for all the couples who had booked there, which can't be easy as I know they were fully booked up.

"The only silver lining is at least we have 11 weeks to find somewhere, some of the couples will only have half that time, I just hope we manage to."

In a letter to members, managing director James Lloyd said the business was no longer viable. He said: "There is no prospect of turning the business around without considerable investment, or selling it on as a going concern as it continues to make losses.

"Therefore the difficult decision has been taken to close the hotel and leisure centre."

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