IT was going to be one of the happiest day of their lives.

But Chris Pritchard and his fiancee Karen Brockbank's forthcoming nuptials are turning into a nightmare after their wedding day venue closed down.

The couple, from Quedgeley, had set their hearts on tying the knot in front of 70 guests in a funky £10,000 event at luxury Cotswolds hotel Robinsons on the Hill, near Stow-on-the-Wold, on November 13.

Their excited five-year-old daughter Isabelle was set to be a bridesmaid.

But their long-cherished dream was shattered when administrators shut down the newly-relaunched 60-bedroom hotel, restaurant and spa without any warning.

The first Chris, 30, and Karen, 31, knew about the closure was when they read about it on our website www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk

But history is repeating itself for the lovebirds as they had originally booked their wedding in September – just before the then Wyck Hill House Hotel went into administration for the first time.

Chris, an accounts manager for networking distributors Zycko, in South Cerney, said: "I'm disappointed, frustrated and annoyed as we've been building up to it and now it's all been taken away.

"I'd got my heart set on getting married there. It took us three months to find that place and I can still picture how the day would have turned out.

"We've lost our £1,500 deposit which, in the grand scheme of things, isn't a huge amount of money and at least we hadn't paid for the day in advance.

"My girlfriend phoned me up in floods of tears at 8.45am the day after it closed to say she'd seen it on the website – but we haven't been contacted by anybody.

"I phoned the inquiries line, left a message and phoned the administrators three times, but nobody's got back."

The hotel had been leased by Robinsons on the Hill, directed by John Carnell and managed by well-known Stow restaurateurs Peter and Louise Robinson.

Chris couldn't believe bad luck had struck twice.

"We'd gone through it before when the previous owners Niche Hotels went into administration," he said.

"We had a big panic and asked for our deposit back but they said if we cancelled the contract we'd owe them 50% of the costs.

"They reassured us to hold on.

"But we've had a complete lack of communication with the Robinsons. We met with their wedding co-ordinator in February and everything seemed to be fine, then we didn't hear anything from them.

"I phoned last week and was told everything was fine."

Administrators MCR shut the hotel after the operators fell into arrears on the lease.

The district council is also investigating a discovery of 'asbestos related materials'.

Peter Robinson said: "We apologise for the uncertainty caused.

"We urge people with any bookings to get in touch with Legacy Hotels who, hopefully, will be operating the hotel in the near future."

For more news from Quedgeley log onto www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/quedgeley