Expansion plans for a historic pub which has been empty for three years have been revealed.

The Lord Nelson Pub in Burnham Thorpe has been purchased by the Holkham Estate from previous owners Greene King.

The new owners have now confirmed plans to expand the pub by 50 covers, to appeal to diners as well as drinkers.

MORE: New jobs as riverside pub set to reopen after three yearsJames Bracey, head of land and property at the Holkham Estate, said: "It'll cost us a couple of hundred thousand pounds to do the renovation. We'll be putting in a new kitchen so that the landlord can properly cater for customers and not just be known for beverages."

The new owners already run one pub, the Victoria Inn on the estate.

However they are looking for an independent landlord to run The Lord Nelson pub.

"We're chatting to someone who is potentially going to come in and be running it for us.

"Because we have the Victoria Inn I think we have a good idea of supply and what sells well, and we believe that this can be a success for the estate and the landlord or landlady," Mr Bracey said.

The Holkham Estate will be basing their expansion plans largely on applications already made by Greene King for expansion.

"We wanted to take on the pub because we could see that it was of massive community value and wanted to bring it back into the village," Mr Bracey said.

"Whoever the new landlord is I'm sure that they will be engaging with the community to put on events and become an important part of the village."

The pub, which dates back to the 17th century, was originally named the Plough.

It is known to have been frequented by Nelson when he returned to Burnham Thorpe - his birthplace - in the 1780s and 1790s.

Nelson was born a stone's throw away from the Walsingham Road pub, at the nearby parsonage, in 1758.

It was renamed in his honour in 1798 after the battle of the Nile (Abu Qir).