Husband and wife team David and Julia Hogarth have sold Lakes Cottage Holidays to Sykes Cottages for an undisclosed sum.

David will remain a director of Lakes Cottage Holidays' sister company Carlisle-based Cumbrian Properties which he runs with his brother Adrian Hogarth.

Sykes, the UK's largest independent holiday cottage rental agency, has bought Lakes Cottage Holidays as part of its growth strategy.

The Lakes Cottage Holidays name will remain and all 16 staff, including David and Julia's daughters Rachael Hogarth-Morley and Sarah (Sasha) Earl, will be kept on.

David said: "We are delighted that Lakes Cottage Holidays have become part of Sykes Cottages. Going forward we feel they are the best agency to grow the business for the benefit of our customers, owners and staff."

Earlier this year Lakes Cottage Holidays, which has offices in Keswick and Windermere, was honoured in the hotels and leisure category of the National Family Business of the Year Awards.

David explained: "Sykes saw us at the awards ceremony and it went from there. We received a very good offer at a time which was right for us.

"Julia has retired and I want to spend more time with my family and grandchildren."

The couple started Lakes Cottage Holidays 11 years ago and built up a portfolio of 400 properties in Cumbria with another 120 elsewhere in the UK.

Previously they owned Cumbrian Cottages which had a similar number of properties on its books. They sold it 14 years ago.

Sykes Cottages, which has a portfolio of more than 9,000 properties, said the acquisition of Lakes Cottage Holidays was an ideal strategic fit given the complementary geography and culture of both companies.

Graham Donoghue, chief executive of Sykes which employs 300 people mainly at its head office in Chester, said: "This creates an excellent opportunity for our property owners and customers.

"It adds 500 properties in key locations to our existing portfolio offering unrivalled choice to our customers and additional specialist knowledge from the Lakes Cottage Holidays team.

"For property owners it enables us to promote their assets to an even bigger audience, leveraging our combined brand presence, sales channels and marketing activity."