HYNDBURN Council has made £200,000 by selling a nursery building at auction.

The price was more than double the £80,000 Sunbeams Day Nursery building in Accrington was expected to fetch.

The news has been welcomed by Hyndburn Council leader Peter Britcliffe who said: "This is a huge windfall and a lot more than expected. We were told to expect around £80,000.

The current tenant, Sunbeams manager Linda Ashcroft, said that she has a tenancy for the next 10 years and the service she provides is not under threat.

The sale was part of the council's policy of selling buildings it has "no reason to be owning".

Coun Britcliffe added: "There is always demand for extra spending across the borough and this money will be reinvested. All of the town centres can benefit from this money." The building was sold at auction at Manchester Airport by auctioneers Pugh and Company.

A spokesman for the firm said there had been frenzied bidding when the lot became available.

The building, in Laneside Avenue, off Whalley Road, is a modern single storey..

However Mrs Ashcroft said she had been disappointed after bidding for the building herself.

She added: "We have been tenants for two years and hoped that the council would show some loyalty and sell the building to us for a fair price.

"Unfortunately that did not happen but we will carry on. We have a tenancy and we will continue here."

Around 30 children aged between two and five-years-old attend the nursery and seven members of staff work at the site.

It is not known who the building's new owners are but they can expect an annual income of £7,500.