A HOTEL and coffee shop near Liphook has been bought by East Hampshire District Council.

The £1.5m Metro Inn Hotel and Starbucks coffee shop on the northbound section of the A3 is the district council's third acquisition since the authority decided to shift its investments from low-interest cash to the high returns of property "by buying up local properties", according to a statement issued this week.

The deal brings district council expenditure over the last two years to £3.7m on its property portfolio, which includes Barclays Bank on Petersfield High Street opposite The Square, and the Co-op store in Four Marks.

But the latest purchase has come as a surprise to council tax payers who have only just been made aware of the deal and to residents of Four Marks, near Alton, many of whom have been fighting to retain the building as a community pub.

For full story, see this week's Petersfield Herald.