UP to 50 couples are set to be told the venue they have booked for their big day can no longer host their wedding, The Mail can exclusively reveal.

The limited company behind Chequers Hotel in Dalton is at risk of going into administration amid unpaid debts and tax bills according to documents filed with Companies House.

With Companies House awaiting outstanding financial accounts and a statutory confirmation statement, which were due to be submitted in January and February respectively, the Insolvency Service is more likely to approve any application for voluntary or compulsory liquidation.

If a limited company becomes insolvent either the directors can apply to go into voluntary liquidation or a creditor who is owed money, such as a supplier or bank, can apply for compulsory liquidation in order to attempt to recoup any monies owed from any of the company's assets.

The hotel’s general manager, Charlotte Benn, is understood to have informed staff yesterday that the venue was closing.

A friend of the couple who got married at Chequers on Saturday told The Mail they had been told by staff that theirs would be the last ever ceremony to take place at the venue.

The Mail understands an out-of-town investor has agreed to purchase Chequers and plans to use the land for housing.

A source involved in the winding-up of Chequers told The Mail that bosses have in the last week approached rival firm Lucidity Group, the company which owns The Dunes, the Townhouse and the Stagger Inn to ask for assistance in securing employment for the 30 staff facing redundancy and fulfilling functions.

The Dunes is understood to be capable of taking on around 90 per cent of the weddings at no additional cost to the couples.

It is not known if any of the couples whose weddings will be affected by the closure have been informed.

The next wedding which had been due to take place at Chequers, which The Dunes is able to host should the couple agree to the change of venue, is in around three weeks’ time.

Lucidity Group is also understood to have offered to prioritise Chequers staff for its vacancies to mitigate any compulsory redundancies.

In 2017 the then company behind Chequers; Chequers Hotel & Restaurant Ltd, which had directors listed as John Benn, 72, and Lynda Benn, 65, from Haverigg, and Karen North from Walney, went into administration.

The venue was then taken over by a new limited company; Chequers Bar and Hotel, which has Karl Benn, 46, from Barrow, listed as sole director.

In July 2017 a loan and a legal charge, under which a lender has the right to take back a property if the money used to buy it is not paid, were secured by Chequers Bar and Hotel, signed by Karl Benn.

In July 2018 the company agreed a mortgage and another legal charge on the venue.

The Mail has contacted Chequers and asked for a comment but at the time of going to print there has been no response.