LEYTON ORIENT footballers have been forced to sleep in a £100 a night hotel, it has been reported.

O’s stars have been reportedly holed up in the Marriott Hotel in Waltham Abbey as a punishment for the team's woeful form after a 3-1 defeat away to Hartlepool.

The club's owner Francesco Becchetti took the decision on the unusual punishment, hoping to improve the team’s performance.

After winning their opening five League Two games of the season, the club have gone on a run of just one win in 12, leaving them on the brink of falling out of the play-off spots.

Players are reportedly allowed out of the hotel to visit their family but must eat, sleep and live there until this weekend's clash with York at the very earliest.

Orient manager Ian Hendon told the Daily Mail: "I wouldn’t want to be the one paying the bill.

"The owner has had different sporting ventures over the years and he said sometimes it’s good to get together and spend time together. It helps team bonding.

“When the owner suggested it I thought 'why not try something different?'

"If we win four or five-nil [against York] the owner might ask us to move here permanently.”

The club's owner Francesco Becchetti, 49, who bought the club in July 2014 is currently wanted in Albania in connection with fraud and money laundering.