Radioactive house is put up for sale

A property described as "the most radioactive house in Britain" is up for sale, despite unnaturally high levels of plutonium in its garden.

The house in Berkshire has been empty for years after the plutonium levels were found to be 40 times higher than normal background radiation.

Estate agents in Reading are selling the five-bedroom house after a court order against its owner, Ray Fox. They admit the £200,000 asking price is lower because of the house's peculiar past.

Christopher Moore, of Haslams, said: "We are quoting a price that is reasonable bearing in mind the history and its present condition," said. "We are making all the information available to potential purchasers."

A report for Royal & Sun Alliance insurers said the property should be out of bounds. But the Environment Agency has written to the solicitors working on the sale saying that "the property represents no health concern due to radioactivity".

Mr Fox said he was staggered that the house was being sold while the radiation levels were being investigated by the EU. Chris Busby, of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, said: "We are baffled by this ... The only explanation is that the source is from a nuclear bomb or a reactor near by."