'Brookside' cul-de-sac up for auction

[Perdita]

The homes used in Channel 4 soap Brookside have been put up for auction.

The 13 properties on Brookside Close, West Derby were purchased by Mersey Television in 1982 and continued to be used until the show was axed in 2003.

In 2005 the buildings were bought by developers, but the houses have been left empty since then and require repair work.

The auction is scheduled to take place on December 17 and the collective properties are expected to reach between £550,000 and £600,000.

Brookside featured early acting roles for Anna Friel, Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston. It also included famous storylines such as consensual incest and the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss on British TV.

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[Trinity]

Second SPAM alert?

[Hannelene]

That sounds so cheap!

[Perdita]

The cul-de-sac of houses used to film Brookside is ready to be rented by real-life tenants following extensive refurbishments.

An anonymous buyer snapped up the 13 properties in West Derby, Liverpool in December 2008 and they have since been restored in a major redevelopment project.

Brookside Close was left derelict for years after Channel 4 axed the long-running soap in 2003. However, all of the houses are now ready to be lived in.

Carol Corran, from Sutton Kersh Lettings, told the Liverpool Echo: "This is an incredibly rare and unique opportunity. Brookside Close is one of the most well-known cul-de-sacs in the country.

"The houses have been finished to a high specification and provide good value given the space and history that exists with each one. We are already receiving a high level of enquiries and expect to let the properties quickly so anyone genuinely interested in living there is advised to register their interest early to avoid disappointment."

Her colleague Ria Font added: "People like the idea of living on a famous television set - Brookside was such a popular series and there are still many fans.

"The interest has been amazing. The most common question is, 'In which house is Trevor Jordache buried under the patio?' and 'Which house was Jimmy Corkhill's?'"

Brookside's Merseyside estate made it the only UK soap to use real-life houses for filming rather than sets.

DS