The fight to keep an 18th century country house Norfolk hotel in business appears to have been lost - amid a dispute over moorings.

The administrators of Wroxham's Broad House Hotel admitted last week that negotiations to sell the luxury hotel had broken down.

Administrators Baker Tilly, who were called in by owners Laccone Ltd in December, admitted that it seemed 'unlikely' that the business, initially put on the market for �2m, would re-open in the near future.

But now the tale has taken a new twist after a statement was published on Broad House Hotel's website, www.broadhousehotel.net, to vent frustrations at the situation.

The statement begins: 'We are very sorry to say that this will be the last ever post from Broad House Hotel. This is very upsetting, a terrible, terrible shame and completely unnecessary.'

It suggests a disagreement with Norfolk Broads Yacht Club, who share access to Wroxham Broad via The Avenue, was the cause of the deal falling through: 'The deal with the new owners to keep Broad House trading as a hotel was 99pc complete. Then at the last hour the potential new owners and NBYC (Norfolk Broads Yacht Club) locked horns and could not agree on the rights to access to the hotel from across Wroxham Broad and the use of our Jetty.'

A statement from Baker Tilly last week said that negotiations for the proposed sale broke down 'due to unexpected access issues relating to the use of Wroxham Broad'.

Commodore of Norfolk Broads Yacht Club Anthony Landamore confirmed his organisation had entered into negotiations to maintain the same sort of agreement for water access and moorings held by the current owners of the hotel, but that the prospective new owners wanted a longer-term deal.

He said: 'The club leases the broad from the Trafford Estate.

'We had an arrangement with the owners whereby they had water and mooring access to the broad, which the property does not have.

'We were quite happy to offer the latest prospective purchasers much the same arrangement but for some reason that wasn't good enough.'

The website statement continued: 'Because of this 40 people have lost their jobs, 62 future bride and groom couples who should have been celebrating their special day with us have been advised by Baker Tilly to book elsewhere. They must be heart-broken to have to find other venues at short notice.

'We cannot apologise enough for the way this has ended. This is not the way we like to do business, the whole fight to keep going has been very distressing for all concerned.

'All we ever wanted to do was to create magical experiences with wonderful food and outstanding service, a place where doing nothing was never a waste of time.'

Have you got a story from the Wroxham area? Contact reporter David Freezer on 01603 772418 or on email at david.freezer@arahcnt.co.uk