BOLTON property investor and developer Townson Estates has sold the Mount Heath industrial estate in Prestwich in a £6.25 million deal.

It was negotiated by surveyors King Sturge and completed by KBL Solicitors of Mawdsley Street, Bolton.

Townson, based at Chorley New Road, has sold the 140,000 sq ft site on Bury New Road as a going concern.

The site currently has nine industrial units which are home to businesses involved in fields including tyres, flexible pipe manufacturer and wholesale clothing, and another five acres of land for development subject to planning permission.

The estate was badly damaged by fire almost two years ago, which caused a number of nearby properties to be evacuated, including the Fairways Lodge Hotel.

Major re-building work has since been carried out by Conlons.

Debbie Roberts, of KBL, said: "It took considerable efforts on all parts to pull this lucrative deal together."

Townson's was formed in 1973 and has built up a portfolio of commercial property in locations throughout the Midlands and North-west.

Among its deals was the sale of an 18-unit Victorian shopping arcade in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, for almost £1.5million, having bought it for £1million two years earlier.

Eighteen months ago, it spent £500,000 on an industrial unit in Telford.

Ken Townson, chairman and chief executive officer, said the firm was taking advantage of an attractive sellers' market to allow it to buy elsewhere in what he anticipated would become a buyers' market.