A refurbishment is pledged for a country house hotel by its new owner.
North-East entrepreneur John Khan bought the Hallgarth Manor Hotel, at Pittington, near Durham, recently for £1.5m. The hotelier plans to spend a further £300,000 on refurbishing the building early next year.
Mr Khan, who also owns the Park Head Country Hotel in New Coundon, near Bishop Auckland, said: "It's firmly one of the region's best country house hotels."
It has 23 en-suite bedrooms, large conference capability, function rooms and a restaurant which earned the 'Diner's Award'.
Mr Khan said the purchase secures the jobs of its existing 30 employees and may result in another 20 jobs being created, with developments due to be complete by Easter.
He hopes Hallgarth Manor, just off the A690 Durham to Sunderland road, not far from the A1(M), will prove attractive to tourists.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article