KIDDERMINSTER'S top hotel, the privately-run Gains-borough House, has been sold.

The new owner, Symphony Hotels, has vowed all staff will be retained and there are no plans to make major changes.

The three-star hotel on Bewdley Hill, which boasts 43 bedrooms, restaurant and conference facilities, has been sold for an undisclosed sum by Tim Wedgwood, who bought it from Lyric Hotels three-and-a-half years ago. the Gainsborough House Hotel.

Symphony's partners - husband-and-wife teams Jim and Kate Snelgrove, and Tony and Lyn Murphy, who all hail from Worcestershire - told the Shuttle/Times & News they wanted to continue to offer the warmth and friendliness for which the hotel was renowned.

Mr Snelgrove said: "The four of us can boast over 30 years' experience in the service industry and we are certainly not about to destroy the image of the hotel which everyone has worked so hard in the past to achieve."

He added the management structure, which boasts 35 full and part-time staff, would remain exactly the same with Marie Sheldon continuing as general manager with the full support of the existing staff.

He said an open day to allow businesses and residents a chance to meet the new partners would be held on date to be confirmed.

The hotel was opened more than 30 years by Chris Dale, who later took on the ownership of the Cedars Hotel in Kidderminster's Mason Road.