Jane Austen fans despair at student digs plan for hotel where she danced

Devotees of author from Britain and the US lobby Southampton council to reject proposals for historic Dolphin building

Devotees of Jane Austen on both sides of the Atlantic have joined a campaign to save the historic port city hotel where she celebrated her 18th birthday.

Plans are afoot to transform the Grade II-listed Dolphin hotel in Southampton, where Austen once danced in the grand ballroom, into student accommodation.