Up for tender

Don't stop at smoke alarms: buy this house and you get the ultimate in home safety protection – a fully functioning fire engine.

The appliance is in the large garden of the cottage belonging to John Heap, who is selling up to move with his wife, Chita, to the Philippines.

Mr Heap, 57, said he had bought the fire engine two years ago.

"It was a complete impulse buy – I'd gone to the auction to see if there was anything interesting and, before I knew it, was bidding for the fire engine," he said.

"I didn't even know how much I'd won it for, I was in a total daze. But it's nice to sit in there with a cup of tea on a sunny Sunday afternoon entertaining guests. It's handy for putting out the odd chip-pan fire and for cleaning the upstairs windows, too."

Mr and Mrs Heap are planning to move to the Philippines to be with her family once the sale of the property in Horton, Somerset, is complete.

Mr Heap said: "I'll be sad to see it go but, at the same time, I'm looking forward to the new adventures I'm going to have. A lot of people my age are thinking about retiring but I'm not finished yet."