THE iconic Blencathra mountain is no longer for sale, it has today been confirmed by the managing director of Lonsdale Settled Estates.

The £1.75million fell was put on the market by Hugh Lowther, the Eighth Earl of Lonsdale, in order to pay-off a £9million inheritance tax bill in April 2014.

However, the tax has now been cleared through the sale of other assets and there is no longer any reason to sell the 2,848ft mountain.

John Robson, managing director at Lonsdale Estates, said: "We have stopped actively marketing it. It's not got a for sale sign on it anymore as we have dealt with the inheritance tax in other ways.

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"There is nothing on the horizon indicating that it would be sold in the short or medium term."

Despite having no immediate plans to sell Blencathra, Mr Robson also indicated that the estate could still part with the mountain 'if someone came along and offered us the right money', but that was likely to be more than the original £1.75million asking price.

This news will come as a blow to the community group Friends of Blencathra, which has been raising money to try and buy the mountain since its sale was announced.

The group released a statement as recently as Monday saying they were still hopeful.

Their statement, written by Janet Turner QC, said: "After a period of some uncertainty the vendors of the Saddleback mountain [Blencathra] have recently confirmed to the charity that they remain keen to sell the mountain and, in particular, would like to sell to the charity if suitable terms can be agreed.

"Discussions are now in play to that end."

However, this contradicts today's comments made by Mr Robson, who said: "We haven't heard a great deal from them [the Friends of Blencathra] recently."

The Gazette contacted Janet Turner QC, the Friends' legal advisor, who was perplexed by Mr Robson's comments and insisted that it was still a real possibility that the action group, which has 6,400 members, could buy the mountain.

In addition, The Gazette has also made contact with the Trustees of Lonsdale Estates and are awaiting a response.