A historic Bradford motor dealership has been snapped up by an expanding North East-based motors group as part of a £31 million deal.

Gateshead-based Vertu plc, which trades under the Bristol Street Motors brand, has swooped for the Albert Farnell business which operates three Land Rover outlets in Bradford, Guiseley and Leeds.

The business has been sold by the Co-oprative Motors group, which last year offloaded the Renault and Nissan dealership on Thornton Road, along with five other Co-op Motors sites in Derbyshire, to Vertu.

Farnell Bradford, which moved from Frizinghall Road to a £1 million site on Kings Road in 2011, creating 15 jobs, became of the largest Land Rover showrooms in the UK.

Farnell is one of Yorkshire’s oldest motor businesses, dating back to 1882.