COUNCILLOR Ian Ward has apologised tonight after mistakenly announcing that Sandown's Ocean Hotel had been sold.
He said negotiations were ongoing but it was premature to have said it had sold, and he was embarrassed by the blunder.
He said the information he had been given contained a typo that had changed the nature of the message.
He said: "I am sorry everybody, but my post last night saying that Ocean Hotel had been sold was premature.
"However, it was the news I was expecting to receive, but the negotiations are ongoing. To say that I am disappointed and embarrassed is an understatement.
"The information I was given had a typo that changed the nature of the message. We have all experienced the computer changing the word you intend to type into something else.
"I have received an apology from a senior council officer and I thank him for that. Hopefully, the sale will be completed soon."
The un-named council official wrote: "Please accept the local planning authority’s apologies for the wording error that has caused confusion.
"This error was due to an auto-correct spell check that changed a single occurrence of the word ‘complicated’ to ‘completed’ within an officer's email to the town council.
"This has subsequently been corrected and confirmed that the sale process is ongoing but not yet completed."
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