Trebaron Garden Centre at Newton-Le-Willows near Warrington has been sold for an undisclosed sum to Newbank Garden Centres.

The former owner Mike Withers bought the site in 1991 from pop singer Rick Astley's father when it was a 6 acre open field with one small greenhouse.

Redeveloped in 2006 the business is now a destination centre with several concessions and a large restaurant.

The transaction brings the stable of centres owned Newbank, a family business, to five, making it the largest chain in the north west.

MIke Withers also owns Sefton Meadows Garden Centre and the distributor Trans-Continental Group, whose brands SnowTime and SunTime are well known in the garden centre industry.  "The intention is to invest in Sefton Meadows Garden Centre and develop it into a destination centre."

Jon Bottomley, Newbank Commercial Director told GTN Xtra: "We are proud to add Trebaron, Newton-Le-Willows to our already amazing portfolio of garden centres. We have been looking for the right site for many years and approached Mike to see if he would part with the centre he is so fond of. We have dealt with him for many years and consider him a family friend which made the process a lot easier.

"We have many changes in place already to push this thriving garden centre to the next level and as a family, we are very excited about the next chapter for the business.  We've just got to try and throw a Christmas together now!"