A BANKRUPT businessman is being forced to sell the cleared site of what was once his upmarket hotel.

The Rolling Stones once stayed at the Queen's Hotel, Stockton, which 66-year-old Ted Winter bought in 1980.

Less than a year later, the building was burnt to the ground and Mr Winter, of Yarm, has been locked in a struggle over tax debts ever since.

The wrangle centres on a £120,000 capital gains tax debt which arose following the blaze.

With penalties and interest, the debt now stands at more than £250,000.

Mr Winter was made bankrupt by the Inland Revenue.

A development company has now offered him £125,000 for the hotel site.

Mr Winter said: "I was hoping to clear my debts, but that offer will not touch it."

He is concerned that, after the hotel site is sold, creditors will force him to sell his house to clear his debts.

Mr Winter had previously offered to give the hotel site away to the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, to thank the doctors who saved his life.