The freehold interest in the Emsworth Café, in the High Street of the picturesque fishing village of Emsworth, situated on the edge of Chichester Harbour on Hampshire's southern coast, has been sold in an off-market deal.

The Winchester office of leading international restaurant agents, Christie & Co, discretely marketed the business on behalf of proprietors David Link and his partner Catherine, while their associate company, Christie Finance, negotiated the finance package for the buyers, Clare and Stuart Wright.

David and Catherine, who previously owned and ran a pub near Huntington, purchased the Emsworth Café in April 2006 and have operated the business as a daytime café serving home-made, freshly cooked breakfasts, lunches and snacks throughout the day. They are now moving on to pursuing other business interests.

Located at 44 High Street in the heart of Emsworth, the café can seat 45 customers and has a secluded 18-cover garden and the added benefit of a two-bedroom owners' flat above.

Vicky Moody, of Christie & Co, said: "Emsworth is a highly sought after location where freehold cafés and restaurants rarely come up for sale, so we were able to arrange a discrete sale for David and Catherine."

Charlotte Burridge, financial consultant of Christie Finance, added: "I was delighted to arrange the funding for Mr and Mrs Wright to purchase their second café/tearoom in the area. The Wrights have several years' experience within the hospitality industry and they have successfully run the tearooms at Stansted Park, Rowland's Castle (now Pavilion Tearooms) since 1993. They have established a good team of staff at the Pavilion Tearooms and they will continue to run that business as well as building their new venture in Emsworth."