TV VET Matt Brash has sold his four North and East Yorkshire veterinary clinics to a national chain.

Mr Brash, who presented ITV’s Zoo Vet and Zoo Vet At Large and who is also the vet for Flamingo Land Theme Park at Kiby Misperton, near Malton, has now left the veterinary group, which is called Ark Alliance, but trades as Battle Flatts and Applegarth.

Its four surgeries in Stamford Bridge, Pocklington, Strensall and Norton, which employ nine vets and 31 other staff, have become part of the Norfolk-based veterinary group CVS, which owns 205 clinics nationwide.

Ark made a profit before tax of £141,000 on a turnover of about £1.8 million in the year to August 31, 2009.

CVS, which has not disclosed how much it paid for the four surgeries, has said it will assume all management responsibilities for Ark and that administration will be consolidated within the company’s central facilities to provide cost savings.

However, a spokesman confirmed this consolidation would not involve any redundancies.

He said: “The company will benefit from the buying advantages CVS has because it’s a very big group and can buy at better rates.

“It can also take some of the administrative headache from the actual vets so they can spend more time giving attention to animals. The more time we can free up for vets to be caring for pets, the happier they will be and the better the surgery will be.”

CVS chief executive Simon Innes said: “Ark is a quality, well-established practice group and we are delighted to be continuing to add to our portfolio following our acquisitions earlier in the year, while continuing to pursue a strong pipeline of further acquisition opportunities.

“We look forward to working with the team at Ark to help continue the high level of animal care and customer service that they have been delivering to date.”

The Press attempted to speak to Mr Brash about his future plans, but was unable to contact him.