A 220-ACRE quarry site near Tredegar that has starred in movie blockbusters and TV series Doctor Who has been sold to an Abergavenny businessman for twice the asking price.

The quarry land, near Trefil, has been used as a film set for the BBC’s Merlin as well as for Hollywood films Wrath of the Titans and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

An auction was held yesterday evening in Cardiff, but when bidders arrived it was revealed that the land had been sold privately earlier in the day.

It is understood a businessman from Abergavenny bought the land for about £90,000 but it is yet unknown what he plans to do with the site.

Last month Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions revealed they would be selling the land for a guide price of £45,000. They said there had been a huge amount of local, national and international interest.

Sean Roper, from Paul Fosh Auctions, said, subject to planning permission, the land could be transformed for leisure purposes or even become a solar farm.

The site, which sits on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Blaenau Gwent, has welcomed stars such as Liam Neeson and Martin Freeman.

For the 2012 sequel to Clash of the Titans, which starred Ralph Fiennes, Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy and Sinead Cusack, the quarry was transformed into a barren rocky landscape.

Doctor Who creators, meanwhile, turned it into a snow-covered Planet of the Oods.

The site, located North of Tredegar, has more conventionally been used for limestone extraction, and has provided employment for generations of quarry workers along the Heads of the Valleys.

It contains old quarry workings and is near the Gryphonn quarry, which will remain in operation.

Mr Roper said: “The land is well known in the film world as a set so this may well continue as a potentially lucrative form of income for the new owner.

“The site, which is close to the A465 Heads of the Valleys road, could be put to a number of alternative uses such as tourism related, perhaps linked to its film location history, leisure uses such as outdoor pursuits or even for a solar panel farm, all subject to gaining planning consent.”