Macdonald Hotels has threatened to make dozens of staff redundant because of "unsustainably high" costs.

In a letter to staff the luxury hotel group claimed "above inflation" rises in their "already significant" business rates was to blame along with increased costs due to rises in minimum wage.

They further blamed uplifts in energy utility costs, increased apprenticeship levies and pension obligations for the move.

Now the firm, which operates upmarket hotels in Edinburgh, St Andrews and elsewhere across Scotland and England, has entered into a consultation with staff after a review of costs was taken.

The group plans to "reduce group headcount" by around 50 but it's understood some staff will be redeployed within the business where possible.

The letter to staff states: "One of the findings from the review was that our operating costs are unsustainably high and we require focusing on reducing these as a priority for this year.

"As a result of these various factors we have been left with no option but to consider implementing a number of redundancies, as part of a wider cost reduction programme which will also target non-essential overheads and non-staff costs, but regrettably, one of the first steps we have been forced to consider is reducing our group headcount by around 50."

It's believed redundancies will come from back office staff working in areas such as marketing, conferencing, IT, accounting and payroll.

One former staff member said: "It is a real sickener for the staff starting a new year with this hanging over them.

"There has been a lot of worry within the company about how Brexit might impact on them - the hospitality industry could well be susceptible to problems retaining European staff and a downturn in income if the economy takes a downturn.

"The company are not blaming Brexit - but the political uncertainty has been cited as a factor in the rising costs."

A spokesman for the firm declined to comment.