THE freehold of Skipton House, which houses Skipton's Marks and Spencer food store, has been sold to a London investment company for more than £2 million.

The building is on the site of the former Pennine Buses depot and has been sold by the Simpson family, the owners of Pennine, which folded earlier this year.

As well as the M&S store, which opened in 2007, the building is also home to three vacant office suites, five basement parking spaces and nine residential maisonettes.

M&S Simply Food has a 15-year tenancy agreement, now taken on by investment company Royletest, which expires in September 2022.

The sale was brokered on behalf of the Simpson family by Skipton chartered surveyors Westlake & Co.

The firm's Michael Westlake said the sale highlighted "the significance of Skipton as a regional centre and confidence in the future of M&S in Skipton".