Queen star Brian May rumoured to be interested in buying £35m Rothbury Estate

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Legendary Queen guitarist Sir Brian May is rumoured to be one of those interested in buying a North East estate worth £35m.

The 9,500-acre Rothbury Estate was put up for sale by aristocrat Lord Max Percy earlier in July and would be the largest single block of land to be sold in England in the last 30 years.

Sir Brian appears to be one of the interested parties. He was spotted viewing the estate in his helicopter before getting out to explore the rest of the area by car and speak to locals with his wife Anita Dobson.

Brian May is an avid animal rights activist. Credit: PA

"When the story started to get out that Brain May had been I think it was a bit of a shock," Rothbury councillor Steven Bridgett told ITV Tyne Tees. "We'd seen the helicopter circling but no one seemed to know what it was.

"It wasn't until later on that we found out he had flown up to the Rothbury Estate with a view to potentially purchase it."

Sir Brian is a keen animal rights activist and previously bought 157 acres of land in Dorset in 2013 to turn it into a woodland wildlife sanctuary.

The news that the Queen star could be interested in the estate has been received positively for bringing more attention to the area.

Chris Greaves, owner of the Rothbury pub the Newcastle House, said: "Anybody with a profile coming into the area will help to publicise the area generally and hopefully bring a few more tourists even if it is just out of interest.

"Whether he buys it, whether he doesn't it's irrelevant. People are talking about Rothbury and that's a good thing."

A spokesperson for Sir Brian declined to comment.

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