AN attractive hotel at the foot of the Malvern Hills has been taken over by new owners.

Holdfast Cottage Hotel, in Marlbank Road, Welland was sold to Guy and Annie Dixon at the end of last month.

The eight-bedroom hotel had been run by Martin Bishop for about three years and it is the first venture in the trade for Mr and Mrs Dixon, who were working in London in private minicab hire and advertising respectively.

The couple have been looking for a change of lifestyle for some time, but it took them two years to find just the right place.

Mr Dixon said they hoped to redecorate and restore the garden to its former glory but eventually hope to develop the restaurant and weddings and functions angle of the business.

"It's going to take a lot of tender loving care to restore it to what it should be but it's a wonderful place," said Mr Dixon.

"It's been a lot of hard work obviously, and possibly more than we had imagined, but we're enjoying it."