RBS sells iconic Brighton Metropole hotel

Brighton's landmark Hilton Metropole hotel had been sold in a deal thought to be worth more than £39.3 million.

The hotel had been owned by the part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland, and is the company's eleventh successful hotel sale since it was bailed out by the government in 2009.

The company has embarked on a drive to dispose of non-core assets in a bid to pay back its government debts. Prior disposals of hotels in its portfolio included the selling of the Grosvenor House Hotel and Cumberland Hotel in London.

It had previously owned a string of Hilton hotel properties, which were leased to the Hilton chain. It now, however, only has two branches in its portfolio after seeing six sold off in 2010 alone.

The Metropole - which is Britain's biggest residential conference centre - has apparently been bought by the investment firm, Topland Group. The 340-room hotel was first built in 1890 and was said to be a favourite of Winston Churchill when he was visiting Brighton.

That is not its only political link, though, as it frequently hosts party political conferences, attracted by its picturesque setting right on the city's seafront.