"It’s a great town with one of the world’s most famous golf clubs as a prime asset. It needs regeneration and I want to take a leap of faith and put the cash in.

"But my board and my backers are saying: ‘What the hell’s going on? We don’t have these problems anywhere else’."

"Wirral people should remember that this is on top of the local authority's failure to push through the proposed hotel development on the waterfront at West Kirby."

Hotels entrepreneur Matthews- Williams was in at the beginning of Liverpool’s renaissance when he opened the Crowne Plaza in the city in 1997, and later sold to Centre Island Hotels.

His firm, Sanguine Hospitality Management, and celebrity chef White will open Marco Pierre White at the West Tower, Aughton, in January next year as an up-market wedding and private hire property following an extensive investment and refurbishment programme.

Two restaurants will then open later that month, with Marco Pierre White at The Swan Inn in Aughton and Marco Pierre White Steakhouse, Bar & Grill at the Doubletree by Hilton.

Mr Matthews-Williams’s 151- bed development in Chapel Street will open as Hotel Indigo in spring, 2011.

He is also planning to build a budget hotel in James Street, in Liverpool city centre. This month the Hilton Hotel at Liverpool One will open, increasing the city’s capacity by 215 rooms.

But a spokeswoman for Wirral Council said: "Planning permission was granted for the original application submitted by Mr Matthews-Williams. We understand that, since then, proposals have changed significantly and, as a result, must be reconsidered through the planning process as required by law. This is particularly important for a conservation area and the same action would be required by all planning authorities throughout the country. We have yet to receive any detailed proposals to allow us to consider this matter in depth.

"A meeting with the head of development control was offered to Mr Matthews-Williams, but has so far not been followed up."