ONE of the UK's oldest and most popular youth hostels is set to close after the long standing partnership between the National Trust and the Youth Hostel Association collapsed after 75-years.

The hostel in Winchester has always been based in part of the National Trust-owned City Mill. Since 1934 and throughout its 71-year history it has housed tens of thousands of visitors who come every year to visit England's ancient first capital city.

The success of the mill and the trust's desire to increase the work it does there will mean that the doors to the hostel will close for the last time in September.

The City Mill, which can trace its history back to at least the year 1300, was bought by a group of concerned Winchester residents in 1928.

At that time the ancient building had come under threat of destruction because of the prohibitive cost of renovating it.

That group later handed the building over to the National Trust for posterity.

The National Trust then gave some of the building to the Youth Hostel Association.

The partnership had worked well for 71 years but following renovation work in 1995 and the mill's subsequent success as a tourist attraction, trust bosses decided they wanted to expand facilities. That meant reclaiming some of the space currently used by the hostel, and also meant there would no longer be enough beds at the site to keep the hostel running profitably.

Now Youth Hostel Association chiefs have formally confirmed that the expansion plans will mean the 31-bed hostel has to close.

The YHA has been granted planning permission to turn the remainder of the hostel, between numbers 1 to 5 Water Lane, into housing.

However the YHA says it remains committed to finding a new location for a hostel in Winchester, and is working with civic chiefs in the city to identify a possible new site.

Mark Farmer, YHA's operations director, said: "Both the Youth Hostel Association and the National Trust, from whom YHA leases the hostel, regret the loss of the hostel.

"The current youth hostel no longer meets our needs, but we have for a number of years been looking for alternative locations within Winchester.

"We want to be able to offer facilities which our guests require, particularly in a city as important to tourism as Winchester.

"We will continue to search for an alternative location."