The Burlington Hotel on Worthing seafront has been sold for £675,000 and will undergo a major refit.

The hotel, a feature of Worthing seafront since Victorian times, is a Grade II listed building opposite historic Heene Terrace.

Former owner Hugh Lusie-Smith has sold the venue, which has 24 en-suite bedrooms and a night club called the Tunnel Club, to two brothers from Brighton with extensive experience in the hotel trade.

A member of staff at the Burlington said: "We are being kept very much in the dark, but it is rumoured that the new owners want to completely refurbish it and bring it back to its former glory.

"We are not sure about our jobs yet. There are only nine of us left now."

The Burlington has suffered from long-term neglect, and in recent years has housed people referred by social services.

Some of the lettering on the outside of the property has fallen away and rust marks scar the brickwork.

The rear of the property, formerly the Craic bar, was sold off separately about a year ago and is now a Chinese restaurant.

Estate agent John Watkins, of John Watkins Commercial, based in Portland Road, Hove, said: "There will be a major refurbishment of the hotel and one hopes it will become an amenity of Worthing.

"The purchasers plan to spend £500,000-plus to bring it back to some of its past splendour. It had a substantial turnover. It was a good profit-making concern, albeit very tired."

He said the Burlington would close for part of the three-month revamp.

Mr Watkins added: "My clients want to go in there and trade in a proper hotel environment and be in competition with some of the other top hotels in the town."