THE HISTORIC Fort Southwick has at last been sold off, defence bosses have revealed.

New owners Fort Southwick Company Ltd won the bid after outlining their commitment to restore areas of the Grade I listed fort.

The company holds a large collection of military memorabilia that will be housed at the site, the rest of which will be rented out as office and storage space.

After it became surplus to Ministry of Defence requirements, Defence Estates staged a sealed bid to determine who would take on ownership of the fort, which was used as a command centre during the Second World War.

Estates adviser Martyn Brown said: "The future custodianship of the fort was one of our prime concerns during the sale process and we have worked with English Heritage throughout the sale process.

"We consider we have achieved our objectives with this sale and will look on with interest to see how the restoration project proceeds."

One of the unsuccessful bidders was a Bible training group called Christ for the Nations which had won outline planning permission for their bid which included using the fort as an education centre.

The principal, the Rev Kevin Swadling, said he was disappointed considering their bid had included a £4m restoration programme.

"As with many very worthwhile projects, however, financial implications often dictate the outcome and it seems someone with a greater financial backing than us has been the successful bidder."