A beautician has spoken of feeling 'devastated' and 'like a part had been ripped away from me' after finding a new salon would not be opening in a Suffolk hotel.

The female beautician, who did not wish to be named, was due to run The Beauty Bar at the Dolphin Hotel in Beach Station Road, Felixstowe, but publican John Flett, who owns the hotel, has decided not to open the salon for financial reasons.

The business would have occupied part of the hotel which had been converted to provide three treatment rooms and a reception area to provide services for hotel guests and outside customers.

READ MORE: Plans for 'The Beauty Bar' at the Dolphin in Felixstowe

Last week, East Suffolk Council granted retrospective planning permission for The Beauty Bar in a converted dining room at the hotel, with Mr Flett having set up the business with his own funds.

The beautician was set to run the salon with a colleague.

But she said: "It is very frustrating for myself and my colleague. We had an agreement that we would be opening a beauty salon there."

To make matters worse, she said she only discovered that Mr Flett had had a 'change of heart' over opening the salon after experiencing health problems.

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She added: "I was absolutely disgusted and devastated. It was just like a part of me had been ripped away because I enjoyed it so much and I was just getting into it and at the start of it.

"We had all the stuff in place and we were ready to have a launch day."

However, a spokesperson for the hotel said: "Financially, she had no involvement or responsibility for The Beauty Bar and it has had to be closed down for financial reasons at this time."

READ MORE: Felixstowe news

In August, this newspaper revealed the hotel had reopened after being bought by Mr Flett, who gave the premises a facelift, fitted a new bar and made changes to the toilets at a cost of £100,000.

Mr Flett also made improvements to the upstairs accommodation, replaced the old bedding and furniture in the 13 letting rooms and carried out repairs to the roof, which had been leaking.

READ MORE: Suffolk news