Beetham Tower in legal row

Ian Simpson's Beetham Tower in Manchester is at the centre of a fresh row

Ian Simpson's Beetham Tower in Manchester is at the centre of a fresh row, but for once it has nothing to do with the building's height.

A group of the tower's residents are planning to launch a multi-million pound legal battle against the Hilton Group because they claim they were promised use of all amenities in the skyscraper's five-star hotel.

The residents claim they were told they could expect room service to their door, while others believed the hotel would lease their apartments from them to use as hotel suites.

One investor is understood to have bought a £350,000 apartment on the sole basis that he believed the hotel would rent it as a suite. The flat has now been valued at £250,000.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, resident Carl Austin said: 'It is like paying for a top-of-the-range car with all the extras, only to end up with the basic model.

'My solicitor thinks I and the other residents have a good case for fraudulent misrepresentation.'

The Hilton Group is believed to be unaware of any such agreement, and the tower's owner the Beetham Organisation says the matter of preferential rates is between the Hilton and the residents.