A weekly newspaper gave a property developer four half-page advertisements to resolve a complaint to the press watchdog.

The Farnham Herald made the offer after Hollybourne Developments Limited complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation about a story the paper had run.

The piece in dispute reported that the Farnham House Hotel looked set to close its doors after plans were submitted to part-demolish it and convert it into two detached homes.

But its publication prompted Hollybourne to claim the Herald breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors’ Code of Practice on the grounds that it had only made an exploratory application about the proposal and no decision had been made.

The company made clear that the hotel was and continued to be operational.

Denying a breach of Code, the Herald maintained that the report was accurate and that that the information was sourced from the publicly available Waverley Borough Council planning portal.

It added it did not state the hotel was “closing its doors”, rather it stated plans had been submitted to convert the hotel to housing.

Hollybourne rejected an offer to publish a letter and a clarification, as well as a one-off advert up to a full page in size.  However a subsequent offer of four half-page adverts advertising the hotel, on page five of the newspaper for four consecutive weeks, was accepted.

Because the company said that this would resolve the matter to its satisfaction, IPSO discontinued its investigation into the issue.

The full resolution statement can be read here.