Another Kent restaurant is believed to be among those earmarked for closure by Premier Inn owner Whitbread.

The Woodlands Beefeater, in Gravesend, is rumoured to be shutting this summer following the firm’s announcement it is to axe around 200 of its restaurants in favour of building more hotel rooms.

Last week, Whitbread announced it would also be cutting around 1,500 jobs across the country from its total UK workforce of 37,000 employees.

It said the move was part of a plan to “optimise” its food and drink offering to add more than 3,500 hotel rooms across its estate and increase “operational efficiencies”.

Whitbread said it planned to sell 126 of its branded restaurants, with 21 sales already having gone through. It will also convert 112 less profitable eateries into new hotel rooms.

Customers have told KentOnline they believe the Gravesend restaurant is set to close on July 5 as part of the proposals.

However, a spokesman for Whitbread, which also owns Brewers Fayre sites, said the plans were still subject to consultation but the branch in Wrotham Road could be impacted.

The site is currently still open and trading as usual and any prospective closing date has not been confirmed.

It comes as some bookings at the Long Reach Beefeater in Whitstable were said to have been cancelled.

The spokesman for Whitbread added: “We recognise that this will be unsettling for our team members and we are providing them with dedicated support.

“We are committed to working hard to enable as many as possible of our affected team members to stay with us by either transferring into new roles or by taking up other vacancies across the business more broadly through our existing recruitment activity.”