A MUM planning a surprise 21st birthday party for her daughter at a North Tyne hotel is devastated after being left short changed and without a party venue.

Julie Palmer is one of several people who have been affected after Andrew Verrier and Rachel Pearson, of The Garden Hotel and Restaurant, in the hamlet of Charlton, just north of Bellingham, closed the businesses without yet paying back customers’ deposits.

Julie, who is from Throckley, said: “We booked all of the rooms in the hotel back in June and paid a £200 deposit as we had a lot of people travelling who would need to stay overnight. They were so helpful and even offered to put on a band for us.

“Alarm bells began to ring when we decided to pop up three or four weeks ago to finalise things and there was a sign up saying it was closed. We were spoken to very angrily and told to go away and that there had been a family bereavement. It was the complete opposite of the first encounter we had with them, but I was sympathetic.

“I then went up again about two weeks ago and it looked neglected; I waited for Rachel to come out as I was really worried by then. She eventually reassured me that despite the bereavement it would go ahead.

“But last Tuesday we got an email saying they were closing, with no mention of the money. I haven’t been able to get in touch with them since.

“I am so disappointed after all the work we put into organising it. I have never cried as much as I did last week; it was going to be a lovely surprise for Alice but it was ruined.”

After Julie received the blow just four days before the party was planned, Alice’s party had to be held in the house, leaving Julie to put up 15 people that night.

And Julian Morrison-Bell, who owns the building which was originally called the Boe Rigg, before the tenants changed its name, said he has been approached by several other people who had not yet had their deposits back. They are all currently unable to get in touch with Andrew and Rachel, who have left the hotel.

Meanwhile, the Trip Advisor website shows other accounts of people turning up, only to find the hotel closed.

Mr Morrison-Bell said that he was also still seeking money that the tenants owe him for rent and insurance. He said: “There have been a lot of people who have suffered because of this and no one knows where Rachel and Andrew are. It’s a very small community so it can only be assumed they have left the area completely.”