Whitbread, owner of Travel Inn, is reported to be interested in bidding for the Travelodge and Little Chef chains put up for sale by Compass Group.

The two chains, consisting of 220 hotels and 400 Little Chef restaurants, have been jointly valued at between £600m and £750m - though it has been suggested that Compass would sell the chains separately for the right price. Combined operating profits last year were in the region of £100m.

Whitbread is alleged to have asked advisors Deutsche Bank to invest making a bid and if successful, would most likely convert the hotels to its Travel Inn brand.

Other groups, including Nikko Principal Investments, Accor, Six Continents and Scottish & Newcastle, have also been suggested as potential bidders in the Compass auction.