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Small investors in the failed George Best hotel project in Belfast face losing all the money they put in after a judge agreed that the building could be sold.

The bedroom investors are now unlikely to recoup any of their investment.

They had been trying to delay the sale in the hope that a developer would work with them to recoup their money.

The hotel went into administration in April 2020 without ever opening.

It was being developed by the Liverpool businessman Lawrence Kenwright.

No viable proposals were put forward to recover the investments, which the judge said in some cases would involve "lifetime savings".

Individual investors put in almost £6m to buy individual bedrooms from which they hoped to earn a return.

However, they ranked behind the major lenders to the project, a finance firm called Lyell Trading.

The administrators had asked the judge to make an order to remove liens, or legal claims, which the bedroom investors had over the project.

That would allow the building to be sold and Lyell to recoup some of its debt.

The judge said time had been given to explore the possibility of another investor, after an early proposal from the Martin Property Group.

But that proposal was incomplete and contingent on a number of matters, which were never agreed upon.

Therefore, the application by the joint administrators to sell the building was granted.

The judge said she had "immense sympathy" for those who stood to lose their entire investment, without any return.

"I understand their investment in some cases made up their lifetime savings."