PROFITS from the Queen’s Ribble Valley estate have soared by 18 per cent over the last year.

Annual accounts for the Duchy of Lancaster show the Monarch will receive an income generated by rents of £16 million, up £2.4 million from the previous 12 months.

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The estate, which includes 3,849 hectares across Lancashire, has also increased in value by 6.8 per cent to £472 million.

The portfolio contains large parts of the Forest of Bowland and the village of Dunsop Bridge.

It includes 20 equipped livestock-based farms, as well as over 50 houses and cottages.

Tenant businesses range from a farm shop and cafe, horse liveries, commercial fisheries, caravan parks, farmhouse bed and breakfasts, and pet-food distribution.

The estate also includes land in Yorkshire, Crewe, London and Needwood in Staffordshire.

Chief executive and clerk of the Duchy Council, Nathan Thompson, said the performance for the year up to March 31, 2015, was strong because major redevelopment projects have been completed and the Duchy is starting to benefit from the structural changes implemented last year.

He said: “The strong performance for the year has been spread across all the portfolios and asset classes.”

The Duchy of Lancaster is a private landed estate which provides the Sovereign of the day with a source of income independent from government and the public purse.

The Queen has no say in the running of the portfolio, but the profits pay for the offices of Princess Anne and Princes Edward and Andrew, as well as the upkeep of Balmoral Castle.

Founded in the 13th century, the Duchy of Lancaster is custodian of 18,433 hectares across England and Wales, including key urban developments, historic buildings, high-quality farm land and areas of great natural beauty.

In May this year, the Queen visited her private estates in the Trough of Bowland, after making her first trip to Lancaster in 16 years.