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Llancaiach Fawr is set to be offloaded by Caerphilly County Borough Council following its closure last month.

The decision to shut the Tudor manor, near Nelson, and ‘mothball’ the building was made by the local authority to save £485,000 a year.

The council argued the controversial move was necessary because it needs to plug a £45 million funding gap in its budgets for the next two years.

Commercial estate agents Avison Young has now been appointed by the council to market the venue, and discuss its sale with potential buyers.

Avison Young is also involved in council plans to transfer the management of Cwmcarn Forest Drive, and is the planning agent working on behalf of Aldi as it prepares to open a new store in Nelson.

In a statement, the council said Llancaiach Fawr has received interest from “potential third party operators, who could take on the site and run it in a commercial capacity without significant council subsidy”.

It continued: “The agents will now progress discussions with interested parties as part of the formal marketing of the site.”

Councillor Jamie Pritchard, who is the council’s deputy leader, said: “We are committed to exploring options for the future of Llancaiach Fawr. Avison Young have extensive experience in marketing leisure and hospitality venues, and I have no doubt that we will have a lot of interest.

“The venue offers so much potential for new operators. What is certain, is that the council will be looking for an operation that becomes a strong local economic driver, that compliments the existing leisure and hospitality offers in the county borough.”

Cllr Pritchard continued: “It is exciting to see what the future holds for the venue as we venture out to the open market. We hope to see a similar success story as we did with Coffi Vista in Caerphilly, where a local business took on the venue for a commercial operation supporting local economic growth.”

The former Coffi Vista site is set to become an Italian café bar.