ONE of Grange-over-Sands' best-known hotels has been sold from an asking price of £4.5 million.

The four-star Grange Hotel, a popular wedding venue overlooking Morecambe Bay, was sold by property advisors Colliers International, acting for private owners Hugh and Jenni Rushton.

The 55-bedroom hotel has been bought by a South African private equity fund, Fairtree Hospitality Real Estate.

Colliers says the deal is "further evidence of rising international interest in acquiring UK hotels thanks to devaluation of the pound".

Fairtree has already made major investments in the UK hospitality market, and more are expected to follow.

Last year it bought the Borrowdale Gates Hotel, in the Borrowdale Valley, not far from Keswick.

The Grange Hotel has 55 en-suite bedrooms, several lounges, the Carriages restaurant, suites for up to 300 delegates and 200 wedding guests, and a swimming pool.

Providence Hospitality, a UK-wide management company, has secured contracts to run all the properties owned by Fairtree as well as its presence in South Africa.

Julian Troup, head of the UK hotels agency at Colliers International, secured the sale of the Grange Hotel.

"There was competing interest and the decision was taken to proceed with a proven buyer eager to further expand in the area," he said.

"The devaluation of sterling following the EU referendum means such transactions are now around 20 per cent less expensive than a year ago, thereby making the UK hospitality market an even more attractive prospect for international buyers.

"We have seen a particularly marked increase in the flow of buyers from across the Asia region."

Cumbria is the most productive county for the hotels team at Colliers, Mr Troup added, with more than 30 hotel and hospitality sales in the past two years.