THE landmark Saltersgate Inn is to be auctioned in London later this month.

The property, which has a guide price of £50,000, is being sold subject to a 2008 planning application for redevelopment to provide a large hotel, restaurant and bar.

Saltersgate Inn, which dates back 1648, is situated between Whitby and Pickering. It closed towards the end of 2007 and was subsequently purchased in early 2008.

Last year planning and legal officers at the North York Moors National Park Authority called for the Inn, which was once a popular pub and restaurant, to be restored.

The peat fire in the historic pub – famed as a haunt for smugglers taking salt and rum across the moors from boats which had been lured onto the rocks between Whitby and Scarborough – was never supposed to go out. It was said an excise man, who was carrying out an investigation into the smuggling, was killed and buried under the fire.

A spokesman for Allsop, which is marketing Saltersgate Inn, said the property was being sold as the vendor was currently concentrating on additional developments in the local area.

"The property is currently in a shell condition with some preliminary building works carried out to date. It is offered with planning permission for change of use to provide a hotel with restaurant and bar and may also afford potential for redevelopment of the site or other uses, subject to obtaining all necessary consents.

“The Saltersgate Inn provides a rare opportunity to purchase a historic inn steeped in folklore."

The auction will take place at the Cumberland Hotel in London on Thursday, May 26.

For more information, go to auction.co.uk/residential/LotDetails