A CARAVAN park operator that owns six sites in the North-East was under new ownership yesterday following a £105m deal that will expand its network of coastal sites.

GB Holiday Parks was bought by private equity group ABN Amro from Royal Bank of Scotland's equity finance business.

As well as sites in North Yorkshire, Whitley Bay and Northumberland, GB owns the Crimdon Dene caravan park, in Hartlepool, which it bought in March.

The Crimdon Dene site opened 50 years ago to take advantage of the thousands of holiday-makers - many of them mining families - visiting the area's beaches.

A seaside beauty contest was held at Crimdon Dene as part of the annual summer festivities.

GB Holiday Parks has about 9,500 pitches in the South-East and North-East and has two sites in Scotland.

Its parks include swimming pools and family entertainment.

The management team, which led a buyout from leisure conglomerate Queensborough Holdings in 2001, has kept a 25 per cent stake in the company after reinvesting a substantial part of the proceeds raised by the sale.

GB chief executive Philip Mason said the move would allow the business to carry on growing and take advantage of consolidation in the sector, which is thought to be worth more than £2bn a year.