THE Royal Pier Hotel in Weston has been sold for an 'undisclosed sum'. Businessman James Scott says he and Lebanese property

THE Royal Pier Hotel in Weston has been sold for an 'undisclosed sum'.Businessman James Scott says he and Lebanese property developer Wahid Samady have exchanged contracts with previous owner Tim Shaw.The business partners want to keep the property in its current state for the time being but plan to give it a lick of paint.There is already planning permission to build apartments on the site but Mr Scott says there are no current plans to convert the building for residential use.He said: "This was a joint financial purchase between myself and Mr Samady. I tried to buy the hotel two years ago and had the option to complete within two years."At that time I had another business partner who decided not to invest but then Wahid wanted to."Weston is a great place to invest in and we are going to run the property as a hotel for the time being."At the moment we have an agency manager looking after things.