Devastated couples have had their wedding plans ruined after a Perth hotel suddenly shut down without warning.

The Lovat Hotel closed in mysterious circumstances on Thursday and Best Western, which promotes and markets the venue, has so far been unable to explain the closure.

Couples due to get married at the Glasgow Road venue are among those affected.

Guests and people hosting party nights, including a high school reunion, have also been left in the lurch.

Locals said the hotel's doors are locked and there is no sign of life inside.

Robert Beveridge and his fiancee Lesley Thomson, both 29, were due to hold their wedding reception at the hotel on August 4.

The couple, from Dundee, paid a £250 deposit last summer and had planned to entertain up to 30 guests.

Lesley, a civil servant, alerted her husband-to-be on Thursday after a friend spotted the story online.

Postman Robert said: "It knocked me off my feet. I was in shock as it came out of the blue.

"Apparently the owners have gone bankrupt but we have not heard anything official."

Robert said those who had booked major events at the hotel should have been notified in advance.

STV News made repeated attempts to call the hotel but the number does not even ring out.

A Best Western spokesman said: "We are sad to hear the news about the Lovat hotel.

"At this stage we do not know the full details of the hotel's closure, so our immediate priority has been to help guests who booked through Best Western channels for tonight or tomorrow by offering them refunds and cancellations, or finding them accommodation nearby.

"We have also started to contact customers on our system who have future bookings to notify them of the need to make alternative arrangements."

The global hotel chain said customers will have to deal directly with the management but it pledged to try and help the staff affected.

The spokesman added: "As all Best Western hotels are independently owned and managed, customers who have events booked at the Lovat will have to deal directly with the management of the hotel.

"We are working with our strong network of Scottish members to see if there is any way we can help staff impacted by the closure to find alternative employment."