A COUPLE who have spent a decade building an award-winning hotel and restaurant are planning to swap their £2.5m business for a new challenge in Spain.

Eleven years ago the Crab and Lobster restaurant and the Crab Manor hotel at Asenby, near Thirsk, were nothing more than an idea shared by Mr Dave Barnard, aged 46, and his wife, Jackie. Since then their hard work and sheer inspiration have seen the business grow into something special.

The 180-seater bistro and restaurant was listed as the AA's best seafood pub last year, and has become a popular haunt of the rich and famous. Past diners include Geordie football legend Alan Shearer, members of pop band Boyzone, cellist Julian Lloyd-Webber, and cricketer Ian Botham.

Its success has been matched by the Crab Manor hotel. The former Georgian hunting lodge features 11 suites modelled on famous hotels from across the globe, and has some inspired touches, like the stuffed "yeti" on the staircase, or the secret hidden tap that offers guests an unlimited supply of beer.

But at the height of its popularity, the business is up for sale. Mr Barnard explained: "We have developed our own fairy tale here, but it is complete now. Jackie and I will have been married for 19 years next month. About nine months ago we sat down, took stock and chewed the cud, and decided on a change."

That change will see the couple swapping rural North Yorkshire for a 400-acre farm in Majorca. But Mr Barnard has no intention of resting on his laurels.

He has already drawn up plans to turn the property into a hotel complete with a golf course.

"This just hit me in the face - I have found an opportunity right up my street," he enthused. "It will be a rural spa hotel called Zog, as in the Planet Zog."

The unusual name stems from Mr Barnard's childhood. "People have always thought I was a bit of a strange guy," he said. "As a kid, my friends would sometimes ask me: What planet are you on? Planet Zog? The name just stuck with me."

The monicker will also reflect a fantasy element in the hotel. "Part of Zog's image will be that it is simply out of this world," he said. "It will be somewhere you dream about while you're stuck in the office.

"Anyone who knows me will tell you that it is going to be something very different and won't be boring, that's for sure."

Despite his enthusiasm for the new project, Mr Barnard said leaving Asenby would be a wrench. "We feel a phenomenal amount of emotions about this place, and we think an awful lot of the staff," he said.

"Telling them that we were leaving was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life. I love this place to bits - I always have and I always will. We won't forget anybody here."