Hotel shut for days over metal disc left in pipe

A luxury spa and hotel in Derbyshire was forced to close for four days over the new year due to water issues after a metal disc was accidentally left in a pipe.

Buxton Crescent was forced to close from 31 December until 4 January, which meant it had to cancel and provide refunds for a New Year's Eve event, which included an overnight stay with a five course gala dinner and live singer.

Hotel operator Ensana, which runs Buxton Crescent, said Severn Trent found a metal disk called a coupon moving around in one of the supply pipes, which caused the issue.

Severn Trent has said it will provide a full report to the hotel once it has established how the coupon came to be there.

A spokeswoman for Ensana said: "Severn Trent have been on site since the problem was reported on 31 December.

"They have undertaken extensive investigations which have shown that they left a coupon (metal disk) in one of the water supply pipes when work was undertaken. This has been the problem."

She added: "We do not see that the problem, now solved, will occur again.

"We are working with Severn Trent to document the issue and then to go back to all of our valued guests who, as a result of this problem, did not have the best experience that they should expect."

A Severn Trent spokesman said a coupon is the metal disc cut out of a water main to provide a new connection.

"Following a thorough investigation on site, we have confirmed that a coupon was left in the new connection pipe, and this was the cause of the intermittent issues that the hotel has been experiencing," the spokesperson said.

"We absolutely understand how frustrating and disruptive this has been.

"We are now undertaking an investigation into how this happened and will be providing a full report to the hotel."

The Grade I listed property was built in the 1780s by the fifth Duke of Devonshire as the centrepiece of his Georgian Spa development.

It opened as a hotel and spa in 2020, 17 years after renovation work started.

As part of the £70m upgrade, Derbyshire County Council loaned the company behind the hotel and spa - Buxton Crescent Limited - £11.3m.

But the council confirmed last year that Buxton Crescent Limited - jointly owned by CP Holdings and the Trevor Osborne Property Group Ltd - defaulted on a loan repayment.

In September, the hotel was put up for sale.

Freehold of the buildings is held by High Peak Borough Council and Derbyshire County Council.

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