Singer Morrissey is less miserable than he was - thanks to a stay at a hotel near Bath.

For music fans of a certain age, the news that Morrissey, former frontman with iconic 80s band The Smiths, had been ordered not to sing by worried doctors sent a shockwave of dread – not to mention cancelled gigs and disappointed fans – around the world.

But now 'Mozzer', as he is affectionately known by his legions of alternative music devotees, is fit and healthy and back on stage.

It is believed that Morrissey's world tour, and the hopes of tens of thousands of fans from Japan to Britain to the US, was saved by a spot of rest and relaxation at Lucknam Park at Colerne.

Morrissey embarked on a world tour earlier this year to coincide with his latest hit album, Years of Refusal, but as the singer approached his 50th birthday, he fell ill.

A few shows in Britain were called off amid clamours of dismay, and after a brief attempt to get back on stage, doctors ordered the Manchester-born singer to stop completely and rest.

So the singer took to his bed in a suite at the five-star hotel, which comes complete with a Michelin-star rated dining room, its own stables, spa and conference facilities.

For a week or so, Morrissey was tended to by doctors and apparently kept himself to himself at the hotel.

One source close to the hotel said: "It was like a little open secret. Here was the world wondering what the matter with Morrissey was and where he was, and all the while we knew he was getting better up at Lucknam Park."

The hotel and its restaurant are renowned nationally – earlier this year the famously acidic food critic Giles Coren said he'd eaten the best meal he'd had for years there. Staff would not have had many orders for the Wiltshire lamb from Morrissey's suite – the singer is one of Britain's staunchest vegetarians.

A statement from the singer on his website announced to the world that he was back. The world tour resumed in Luxembourg last Friday.

It said he had been "reconstructed by a Wiltshire hospital" - rather than a hotel.

"I am very pleased to confirm that we will resume at Luxembourg, absorbed and collected. I am as close to good health as I'm likely to get. I apologise to everyone caught up in the to-ing and fro-ing, but the disappointment of postponement is less than the disappointment of hearing me sing on one engine.

"I should stress that nothing has been cancelled. The four London concerts are repositioned in July, and both Birmingham and the Royal Albert Hall are October fixtures.

"I've endured a titanic struggle against an intolerable virus lately, and although Hull, Hartlepool and Manchester were nights that comprised a whole life, the physical limits were reached. False notes crush the soul."

The hotel would not confirm or deny Morrissey's visit.