A WELSH hotel which has been on sale for nearly £700,000 had been visited by an influential African emperor.

Milebrook House Hotel, a multi award winning country house hotel in Knighton, was visited by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie who was a friend of its then owner.The hotel has now been sold after first being placed on the market in 2014.

Built in 1760 as a dower house to the nearby Stanage Castle, the property was once the home of British explorer and author, Sir Wilfred Thesiger and had been visited by his friend Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia while he was living, in exile, in Bath in the 1930s.

The hotel, close to the river Teme, attracts a variety of tourists, walkers, cyclists and bird watchers visiting the rollingthe Welsh Marches on the border with England and was awarded Welsh Hotel of the Year by the Good Hotel Guide 2015, in addition to a number of accolades, and has also featured in many renowned hotel guides.

It has been brought by Zoe Carter and James Sheehan, from London although Zoe grew up in Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire. The previous owners, who have owned the hotel since 1986, decided to sell as they are retiring.

Zoe and James said: "We are delighted to be the new owners of the Milebrook House Hotel and look forward to welcoming all our guests both new and old. It is our wish to continue the success of the hotel and we will endeavour to ensure that quality of customer service, good food and relaxation are always on the menu."

Sir Wilfred Thesiger had been a friend and former adviser to the east African emperor who is regarded as a manifestation of God by followers of the near one million strong Rastafari religion - of which the late reggae singer Bob Marley was probably the most well known.

Selassie visited the house, when it was still owned by the Thesiger family, during the 1930s. He had been forced to flee Ethiopia in 1936 following invasion by Mussolini’s fascist Italy in 1935.

The emperor, known as His Imperial Majesty and the King of Kings, lived in exile at Bath from 1936 until 1941, when he regained control of Ethiopia following the defeat of the Italians. Thesiger, who was born in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa had fought in that campaign .

While exiled in England Selassie travelled to Knighton on a number of occasions to visit Milebrook House.

Thesiger, who died in August 2003 aged 93, had attended Selassie’s coronation as Emperor of Abyssinia, on Selassie’s personal invitation, in 1930.

Reggae star Marley sang about Rastafarian theology in his music but Emperor Selassie, was an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian and isn’t known to have ever denied or affirmed his "divinity".

The hotel was placed on the market in 2014 when offers of more than £795,000 were invited.

The sale price hasn’t been disclosed but specialist business property adviser, Christie & Co, which completed on the sale, said offers in excess of £695,000 for the freehold were invited.

Corrina Jones, business agent at Christie & Co handled the sale and said: “Milebrook House Hotel is a beautiful property and its previous owners have always been an integral part of the business, having built up a wonderful reputation within the area with guests returning time and time again to enjoy the service provided. Now looking forward to their well-deserved retirement, we are pleased to of been able to broker the sale of Milebrook House Hotel on their behalf and into the secure hands of James and Zoe."