A HOTEL could be converted into flats after one of its owners was diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Garry and Penny Lowen, owners of the Gleneagles Guest House, on Clifftown Parade, Southend, fear they have no choice but to shut to the business after Mr Lowen was diagnosed with motor neurone disease.

Proposals have now been drawn up to convert the highly regarded hotel into seven flats.

The couple have run the business for almost nine years and Mr Lowen, 62, insisted it was not a decision the couple took lightly after working hard to keep the business afloat during the Covid pandemic.

He said: “We are doing it because I am terminally ill, it’s not something we want to do it’s something we’re having to do.

“Penny cannot run it alone and I am unable to walk or work. I cannot stand up and have lost the use of my left hand, this is something we have to do. Penny has to care for me as well.

“She’s being my carer and also trying to run the hotel too so we’ve got to this for our own well being. We’ve built a successful business which is highly regarded.

“Sadly the time has come to put ourselves first and not the business. I probably only have about two or three years left to live.”

Mr Lowen revealed he now cannot walk up stairs as his health continues to deteriorate.

The couple are devastated they will have to shut, but admitted they have no other option.

Mr Lowen added: “We must take time for ourselves now and spend what time I have got together. We’ve always put the business and the community first. Our immediate neighbours are aware and fully support us.

“I first thought I had the disease in March and I saw a doctor who said they thought I had it and then I was told in April.

“Since then it’s been progressing and I am now in an electric wheelchair and my left hand doesn’t work.

“There is no way of knowing how it’s going to impact me and I am just trying to keep going and make the most of the time I have left.”

Mr Lowen has now launched an online fundraiser in a bid to collect much needed cash for the motor neurone disease association in his name. .

To donate to the fundraiser, visit www.facebook.com/garry.

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