Longleat has bought the luxury Bishopstrow House and Spa Hotel in Warminster for a rumoured £5 million.

The sale of the 32-bed hotel from Von Essen Hotels, which was placed into administration in April, safeguards the jobs of the hotel’s 60 staff.

Longleat now plans to invest £1m in the hotel and spa completing a refurbishment, and may look to expand the hotel next year, leading to possibilty of new jobs for the area.

Longleat chief executive David Bradley said: “We have one million visitors every year and a lot of those people have overnight stops, over 40 per cent, so having a hotel to offer them as part of the package makes sense. It was an obvious investment for us to make.

“It’s something I’ve been looking at for a while. I’m very excited by everything we’re doing at Longleat.”

Situated six miles from the Longleat estate, the hotel has four AA stars with two rosettes for food quality.

The hotel has a 550-member health spa with heated outdoor and indoor swimming pools as well as an outdoor and indoor tennis courts.