AN ANNOUNCEMENT was expected later today on the future of Burnley's landmark hotel the Comfort Inn.

The hotel -- still known locally as the Keirby -- was put on the market by its owners Choice Hotels Europe and an offer has been made for its purchase by an unknown company.

The takeover deal was being finalised by company bosses as staff waited to hear the outcome of the negotiations.

The future job security of the hotel's staff was unclear.

Last year the Choice Hotels announced plans to invest £80,000 to upgrade the interior and a further six figure sum for structural and cosmetic improvements to the outside of the seven-storey 49-bedroom hotel.

Demolition of the Comfort Inn had been suggested in the past to make way for a new bus station and earlier this year a national group was considering buying the hotel to set up a hostel for asylum seekers.

The Keirby Hotel was built in 1960 by the former Massey's Burnley Brewery and was named after a brewery which had stood on the site.

In the the early 1960s, Bass Charrington took over the premises and in 1968 a name change followed when it was taken over by Crest Hotels.

It reverted to its Keirby name when a family of Ugandan Asians bought the hotel in 1983 but it was sold two years later sto Crown Hotels.

The Friendly chain has owned the hotel since 1987 and in 1992 the company changed the hotel's name to The Friendly, then The Friendly Stop Inn, then the Comfort Friendly Inn.

It was known as simply the Comfort Inn for two years. It is still owned by Friendly Hotels a master franchisee for Choice Hotels based at Edgware, London.

Guests at the hotel have included Lord Attenborough, formerly Sir Richard, who stayed there during the filming of Whistle Down The Wind.