THE LORD Eliot Hotel, Liskeard, has been sold and its new owners will open it as a hotel and restaurant in early spring.

Farmers Derek and Helen Gillbard, from Catchfrench, completed the sale on Friday October 8 and hope restoring the building to its former use will encourage more visitors to the town.

The prominent building on Castle Street has been closed and boarded up since December 2007 when former owner John Lundon's licence to serve alcohol on the premises was revoked.

Read more in this week's Cornish Times.