Owner gets more time to sell off Shrewsbury's Lion Hotel
Creditors of one of Shropshire's landmark hotels have backed proposals to give the owner more time to find a buyer amid a financial crisis.
An auction of Shrewsbury's Lion Hotel has been postponed in an attempt to sell the property on the open market.
Howard Astbury, who runs the hotel, owes more than £140,000 to 90 businesses, plus a further £138,000 to HM Revenue and Customs.
He had been ordered to secure the sale of the hotel this month or a public auction would be called.
But his Individual Voluntary Arrangement has now been extended by nine months to October 8, with a requirement to sell the hotel by July 8. If the hotel is not sold by this point, it will be put up for public auction.
Money from the eventual sale will be used to repay creditors and the taxman.
John Whitfield, who is supervising the IVA, said: "We held the meeting and the variation was accepted. It was 100 per cent in favour of the people who voted.
"The hotel continues to trade as it was before."
The Lion Hotel was initially given a price tag of £2.95 million when it was put up for sale in late 2011.
But its price was reduced last year to £2.495 million to attract more interest.
Notable guests have included Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli and The Beatles.
A letter from Mr Whitfield to creditors ahead of the vote said everyone who is owed money should receive it once the hotel is sold.
