Guests at a pair of interconnecting Weymouth seafront hotels were forced to stay in their rooms following an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug norovirus.

A guest at one of the Russell and Prince Regent Hotels on the Esplanade, which are next door to each other and both owned by the holiday chain Daish’s, contracted norovirus and the bug then went on to affect several guests.

The affected guests were isolated to prevent further spread of the illness and were allowed to stay on at the hotels free of charge until they were healthy again, Daish’s said.

It said it informed the local environmental health department to combat the outbreak and the hotels did not have to be closed.

A guest began displaying symptoms on February 7. The last guest affected left the hotel yesterday morning with everyone affected having now returned to health.

The hotel received a deep clean and was disinfected in line with government guidelines to make sure the virus did not spread further.