A famous rose garden in St Albans will not be open for visitors after the company running it went into administration on Monday.

The landowners of the Gardens of the Rose, The Royal Entomological Society (RES), said it was “very sad to know of their demise” after news broke that the Royal National Rose Society was taken over by joint administrators Stephen Goderski and Peter Hart of PKF Geoffrey Martin and Co.

Bill Blakemore, registrar of the RES, said: “What the future of the land will be, is something we shall determine over the coming months, however we shall not be opening it to visitors as it is not an area we have any expertise in.”

The RNRS was formed in 1876, and aimed to create a “living dictionary” of roses in their five acre garden in Chiswell Green.