Last updated 11:39, Friday, 16 May 2008

A WEST Cumbrian hotel which stood empty for four years sold yesterday for £325,000 – £75,000 more than expected.

The Moota Motel, on the A595, was one of two hotels to go under the hammer but Workington’s Westlands failed to sell.

The motel at Moota went into receivership in August 2004 and has been vacant since then.

It was a popular weekly dancing venue and stands within 100 yards of the perimeter of the Lake District National Park.

Workington’s Westlands Hotel, on Branthwaite Road, which had a price guide of £250,000, failed to sell at the auction held in Leeds.

A spokesman for Eddisons, the company holding the auction, said: “Westlands is still available and it is not uncommon for bids to be placed after the auction.

“Any bids that do come in for it will be looked over and a decision will be made on its future.”

The Westlands, at one point one of the most luxurious hotels in the area, has been closed since December 2005.

It opened in 1972 and was visited by the Queen that year.

In 2005, both properties were bought by Manchester firm Viewfresh.

The company had plans to demolish the buildings and replace them with caravan parks.

The company’s local agent, Eric Telford, said at the time that both hotels would require a lot of work so the decision was made to look at alternative uses.

In 2006, Mr Telford said Viewfresh had sold the motel and he had had nothing to do with it for months.

That same year, the Moota hotel was boarded up to deter vandals.