DEMAND for hotels and inns has been boosted by the Lake District becoming a World Heritage Site, according to a commercial property agency.

The comments from Colliers International followed the sale of the Troutbeck Inn country hotel and holiday cottages, located in the picturesque hamlet of Troutbeck, on the A66 midway between Keswick and Penrith.

The Victorian property was the former railway hotel to Troutbeck station on the old Cockermouth-Keswick-Penrith line, which closed in the late 1960s.

The hotel and cottages were sold from an asking price of £725,000 by Colliers' specialist hotels team, acting for owners Kenn Elliott and Rowan Mahon. The couple are retiring to live in Scotland, having previously owned the Haweswater Hotel in the Haweswater Valley, and Cedar Manor Hotel at Windermere.

Colliers sold the property to Alan and Nikki Fox, who are relocating from Swillington, West Yorkshire.

Haydn Spedding, associate director for the hotels agency at the Manchester office of Colliers International, secured the sale and said: "This significant sale of a high-turnover Lakeland inn is further evidence of the market for such properties benefiting from the Lake District being awarded World Heritage Site status by UNESCO."

The hotel has seven letting bedrooms and a three-bedroom owners' apartment, and there are three two-bedroom self-catering holiday cottages.

Kenn and Rowan bought the Troutbeck Inn in 2008 and carried out a major refurbishment. The business enjoyed a "significant" increase in turnover and profits, said Colliers.

Haydn added: "Kenn and Rowan established an excellent reputation at Troutbeck Hotel, complementing the self-catering cottages and high quality en-suite bedrooms with excellent food for which it became particularly well known, while Alan and Nikki also bring invaluable experience in the trade."