THE owner of Windlestone Hall – the former stately home controversially sold by Durham County Council – has been arrested on suspicion of fraud, The Northern Echo has learnt.

Businessman William Davenport, 58, is due to answer bail again later this month following his arrest by Durham Police.

Detectives have been examining paperwork relating to the £241,000 sale of Windlestone Hall in Rushyford, near Bishop Auckland, following a complaint to Chief Constable Mike Barton by independent Durham County Councillor John Shuttleworth who alleges the sale was mishandled by the authority.

Last year the force referred to the “complex” and lengthy nature of its enquiries and gave no timescale for their completion.

It is unclear what the exact nature of the alleged fraud is, nor precisely how Mr Davenport’s arrest arose.

He was not available for comment when attempts were made to contact him by the Echo, but it is understood he has been regularly answering bail since his initial arrest in November last year.

A spokeswoman for the force said: “A 58 year-old man from County Durham was arrested on November 10 on suspicion of fraud.

“Durham Constabulary and Durham County Council continue to work closely together regarding this investigation and the individual arrested has no known connection with either organisation.

“He is currently on bail, pending further enquiries.”

In November the Echo revealed that Windlestone – once the family home of former Prime Minister Sir Anthony Eden – was again up for sale along with 25 acres of grounds, stables, a courtyard, clock tower and cottages.

The lots combined were advertised for a total of £2.5m – ten times the previous sale price – by estate agent Urban Base which deals in executive sales for what it describes as “the more prestigious property”.

Its director Jan Dale previously said Mr Davenport and his family had been “vilified” as a result of baseless comments from members of the public critical of the price fetched for the hall.

She also said the hall had been in a dire condition when it was bought and there had been an extraordinary amount of work to make improvements to it.

Mr Davenport has never commented publicly on the purchase of Windlestone Hall and his subsequent tenure of it. But an independent audit of the deal struck found no wrong doing, although it did highlight a lack of transparency in the sale .

The council said it achieved “best value” for the property, given a crash in property prices and what it estimated as a £3m bill for repairs for Windlestone Hall.

Mr Davenport is a director of Windlestone Hall Limited, a property development company which was set up in August 2010. Accounts for the company were last filed in July 2013 and it was dissolved in December last year.

He and his family had hoped to build a new equestrian centre at the site, but were unable to secure the additional land required.

The agent behind a planned sale of seven and-a-half acres of land for executive housing also withdrew after he said he was advised that the chances of planning permission were slim.