Kent's nine Travelodge hotels have escaped the cull of sites being sold to other operators by the troubled budget chain.

The company wants to offload 49 of its 505 hotels to other operators.

But there’s bad news for the landlords of two of the nine, who have been told they will have to accept a 25% reduction in the rent they are paid by Travelodge.

Travelodge leases, rather than owns, its hotels. Many of the deals were agreed at the peak of the property boom in 2008. Combined with the economic downturn, these leases are now said to be “unsustainable.”

Creditors today approved a massive financial restructuring of the company.

Landlords of the Medway M2 (Moto Services) and Tunbridge Wells Travelodges are among the 109 hotels which will be retained at a reduced equivalent monthly rent of 75% for three years before reverting to a market-based rent for the remainder of the lease terms.

Travelodge’s day-to-day operations are said to be profitable, but it has been struggling with a huge debt burden. Debts of more than £700 million are being written off.

It was announced last month that Travelodge wanted to enter into a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA). This is a legal process, which allows companies to reduce their debts and outgoings.

Today's vote means the "long-term future” of the company has been secured, according to accountants KPMG, which is running the CVA.

There would be no hotel closures on day one and no redundancies. However, it is not clear what the prospects are for staff at those hotels whose landlords' rents will be slashed.

New cash of £75 million will be injected into the company, much of which will be spent on a refurbishment programme.

Kent’s Travelodges are in Ashford, Canterbury, Dunkirk, Whitstable, Dartford, Maidstone, Medway M2, Tunbridge Wells and Ramsgate.

More details in UK business news.