WEYMOUTH is bidding farewell to more than 50 years of history as a hotel for Royal Naval servicemen shuts its doors.

The Province of Natal Hotel, Greenhill, has closed due to lack of support from Royal Navy recruits and veterans.

The hotel was bought by a group of South African fundraisers in 1949 as a thank you for the navy's efforts in the Second World War. British battleships kept the trade routes open, ensuring South Africa had access to vital food supplies.

Internationally-renowned opera singer Pearla Gibbs, who sang to British troops as they arrived at Durban harbour, Natal, headed the Salute to Britain fund-raising committee.

It raised £90,000, which was given to the King George Fund for Sailors to buy the Grosvenor Hotel at Greenhill.

The building was renamed the Royal Naval Hotel, but during IRA bombing campaigns in England it was renamed again for security reasons, and to reflect its South African heritage, as the Province of Natal Hotel.

The hotel, run by the King George Fund for Sailors (KGFS), provided a place for Royal Naval and Royal Marines servicemen to stay with their families while on leave. In recent years ex-servicemen have also used the hotel.

George Maskell, KGFS spokesman, said: "Sadly the decision has been taken to put it up for sale, because the people that we hoped would go there are no longer going there. People go elsewhere for their holidays, the number of veterans is dwindling and the naval base at Portland is no longer there."

The hotel's 19 rooms were fully-booked by naval veterans for Remembrance Day and a final dinner on Sunday night.

Manager John Butcher, 41, who has run the hotel with wife Mandy for the past six years, said: "With the people that we've got in for this final weekend, it will be a very emotional moment. Some have been coming for more than 40 years. They've become friends."

He said the South African government had been informed of the hotel's closure. In 1999 South African Naval Defence Attach Rear Admiral Jan Vorster visited Weymouth to mark the Province of Natal's 50th anniversary.