A LEADING UK hotelier has taken over a 150-year-old hotel in a North town.

Simon Rhatigan has bought the Feversham Arms Hotel, in Helmsley, for an undisclosed sum.

He now plans to invest a further £230,000 refurbishing the 17-bedroom three-star hotel to bring it up to four-star standard.

New features will include DVD and CD players in each room and new facilities for business meetings and small conferences.

The hotel was bought from Studford Leisure and has an outdoor heated swimming pool, tennis courts, gardens and a fitness suite.

Mr Rhatigan said: "It is a lovely hotel and Helmsley is a fantastic location. The hotel is exactly the type of place I was looking for. It has been well run, but I intend to take it to a higher level.

"We are introducing a menu based on quality and simplicity. Food and service will be of the highest standard, but it will also have consistency and that is the key behind every successful restaurant."

Mr Rhatigan was previously general manager of the award-winning Seaham Hall Hotel, in east Durham, which is AA Hotel of the Year this year, Le Manoir Quat' Saisons, in Oxfordshire, and The Samling, overlooking Lake Windermere, in the Lake District.