A RETAIL and leisure development near Scarborough which has been dubbed by agents as "one of the most unusual retail properties on the market this year" is up for sale with a £1.5 million price tag.

The 8-acre Spital Farm Complex at Staxton, features not only a bar and 52-cover restaurant and carvery, but a Grade II-listed 16th century three bedroomed house, with bedsits and ancillary buildings, a Dickens-themed craft centre with retail units, and camping facilities for tents, motorhomes and caravans.

Dan Hyde, retail specialist with the Leeds office of Knight Frank, which is marketing the site, said: "This is one of the most unusual retail properties and is also one of the most attractive, with tremendous potential.

"There is planning permission in place for the craft centre and retail units to be converted into a 16-bedroom motel and there is considerable scope to expand the camp site and the facilities."

The site was restored, developed and modernised by owners Allan and Sandra Hunneybell, who after devoting 13 years to the operatin are now retiring.

The campsite, which occupies ancient land that dates back 997AD, was launched in 2001, and is on the site of an ancient hostel dating back to medieval times, which was built on top of a Roman Marching Camp.

The present Spital Farm Site first came about when an ancient monastery was demolished during the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.

The farmhouse is the original ‘spital’, and the visitor centre is built on what remains of the old monastery.