A pub restaurant is set to close its doors to visitors as it will only serve hotel guests in the future.

The Acorn in Burgess Hill town centre will close its doors today as it is set to be taken over by the neighbouring Premier Inn.

The hotel brand, whose parent company Whitbread also own the Beefeater restaurant, said the site will close to become a restaurant in the hotel due to a loss of customers and falling sales.

A spokesman for Beefeater and Premier Inn said the space saved would be re-purposed to offer more hotel rooms.

In an email to customers, the company said: “We are writing to let you know that we’ve announced plans to make changes at some of our restaurants and that The Acorn, Beefeater in Burgess Hill will be changing to a Premier Inn restaurant and will only service those staying in the hotel after July 5.”

Dominic Paul, chief executive of Whitbread, added: “Our significant freehold estate and strong balance sheet mean we are in a unique position to be able to add 3,500 new hotel rooms and meet the strong demand we are seeing from guests around the country, whilst continuing to offer a great breakfast and dinner at all of our hotels.

“This plan is a further positive step, delivering a better experience for our hotel guests and helping to extend our market leadership in the UK.“

According to the company, The Acorn in Charles Avenue in Burgess Hill will be replaced by a restaurant integrated into the Premier Inn next door.

Whitbread, who own Beefeater and Premier Inn, also own other restaurant brands including Table Table and Brewer’s Fayre.

The Beefeater restaurant is one of 112 sites which are set to close. In total, Whitbread restaurants have been hit by £19 million in losses so far this year.