Planning woes put six-month delay on Henley Hotel du Vin

Planning problems have forced Robin Hutson to delay the opening of his new 42-bedroom Hotel du Vin in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, by six months.

Hutson said that the company had only recently been able to get on to the site because of issues with planners.

He said that obtaining planning permission for the project had been made more difficult than expected because the group had teamed up with a residential company.

"The whole process has taken nine months longer than we envisaged," said Hutson. "We were planning to open in the autumn, but now it's not going to be until March next year."

He added that the group was still in discussions over a site in Cambridge, and was looking at a number of other sites to develop around the country.