The Crowne Plaza Reading hotel along the River Thames is to close and undergo 'extensive renovations' under new owner, according to staff at the hotel. 

Members of the hotel's facilities - which include a health club and spa - report also receiving an email informing them of plans for the site to close before the end of the year. 

The exact date of the hotel's closure before the end of the December is yet to be confirmed, according to staff who spoke to The Reading Chronicle. 

One staff member said the new owners planned to keep the site as a hotel after 'extensive' renovations. 

Staff at the Crowne Plaza are waiting to be told if they will be redeployed in the business. 

One staff member said: "We hope to redeployed elsewhere in the business."

The hotel's owner IHG Hotels and Resorts have been contacted for further details. 

Reading Borough Council's considered earmarking the sites for future development into flats and homes. 

The suggestion was put to the public as the local authority was putting together its local plan for developments last December.