Alan Lamb, the Conservative councillor for Wetherby, has bought the well-known Fox and Hounds dining pub in the nearby West Yorkshire village of Walton.

The character stone property in Hall Park Road provides a bar and two restaurant areas to seat up to 60 diners, three-bedroom owners’ accommodation and a large rear car park.

Chef-proprietor Karl Mainey made his reputation at the Spice Box in Boston Spa and King’s in Harrogate before transforming the Fox and Hounds from a traditional local pub into a dining destination that makes 70% of its turnover from food.

Mainey’s food-led Bay Horse in Kirk Deignton, which underwent the same transformation, remains on the market for offers of £175,000 for the leasehold.

The Leeds office of Christie + Co sold the Fox and Hound’s  leasehold (a part-tied Enterprise Inns lease) off a guide price of £170,000, with annual rent of £25,000.

By Angela Frewin