HOLTS Tours, the company that pioneered battlefield holidays, is pulling out of east Kent after 25 years following its sale to a large travel group.

The firm, founded in Sandwich in the 1970s, is now part of Titan Travel, based in Surrey. The sale for an undisclosed sum was agreed last week.

All staff based in Eastry have been offered jobs at Redhill, Titan's headquarters, and the Kent-based operation will cease by the end of the year.

Isobel Swan, the company's tours director and former managing director, is moving to Redhill.

Confirming the sale by Greenfield Leisure to Titan, she said: "The two companies have reached agreement which I think long-term will be good for the company because Titan Travel are so professional, so up to date with their administration," she said. "They are a good quality company."

She was sad Holts was leaving the county but pleased that it would continue to "give pleasure to a lot of customers".

"I believe it secures the long-term future," she said.

As far as customers were concerned, it was "business as usual" and the 2004 brochure would be sent out in the next few weeks.

Matt Clapson, Titan marketing manager, said Holts was highly regarded in the industry: "It's going to be the same as it was, but with the backing of the Titan Travel group of companies behind it.

"The aim is to run it as it has in the past in a successful way, to expand and make sure it grows, but to make sure we keep the service it's known for."

Titan has its own battlefield division, with tours led by Prof Richard Holmes, now a television celebrity thanks to Battlefield Walks and other popular series. The division is likely to be absorbed into Holts, which will keep its name.

Major Tonie and Mrs Valmai Holt, who live in Woodnesborough, established the firm in the late 1970s. It was based for many years in the centre of Sandwich before moving a few years ago to Eastry.

The Holts sold their company to Greenfield in the mid-1990s.

Called Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield Tours, it provided high-quality visits to the Western Front and expanded to include historic scenes of conflict worldwide.

The couple led many tours themselves but gradually recruited other military experts. Tours combined visits to the sites and information about military strategy set against the political, social and literary background.

The company won awards it was a Kent Small Business of the Year and pioneered a type of holiday that was once enjoyed by a small number of aficionados but has seen huge growth in recent years, largely due to increased television coverage of military history.

This explosion of interest has brought many competitors into the field, including no-frills operators. Holts is still regarded as the market leader at the quality end of the market.

Holts has not been without its own conflicts in recent months. Mike Booker, who was brought in as the first managing director with a predominantly tourism business background, left suddenly in May after less than a year with Holts.