County manor gets TV vote

A Shropshire manor house has made it through to the final of a TV competition to showcase properties across the UK.

Bletchley Manor, near Market Drayton, won the viewers' vote in the best restoration category on yesterday's live Grand Designs show on Channel 4. It will now feature in Friday's final.

The manor is a Grade II-listed building believed to date back to the mid 17th century and has been restored by owners Nigel Daly and Brian Vowels since they bought it in 2003.

It has taken the pair about 18 months to bring the building back to its former glory after it fell from grace in recent years.

The property is now on the market with estate agents Savills, with a guide price of £825,000.

On Grand Designs yesterday, award-winning writer Janet Street-Porter described the project as the "500-year-old daddy of all restorations" and called Mr Daly and Mr Vowels "superheroes of the restoration world".

A Savills spokesman said: "The house was lived in by Lords of the Manor over the centuries, eventually losing its status and becoming a humble farmhouse where it declined yet further, eventually being converted to bedsits."

Grand Designs, presented by Kevin McCloud, is currently featuring a whole week of live programmes, showcasing the best properties in six different categories.

Viewers get the chance to vote for their favourite property on each show leading up to Friday's final, when the overall winner will be decided, live on Channel 4 at 9pm.