A 35 year old Workington man was arrested yesterday in Stranraer. Shaun Patterson, 35, married with two children and living with his parents in a terraced house near the Cloffacks, was intercepted as he attempted to board the Irish ferry carrying a sledgehammer. Questioned by police, he admitted he was heading for Channel 4 head office in Belfast.

Channel 4's A Place in the Sun: Home or Away was last month reported to be revamping its approach because the British housing market is said to be “cooling”.

Previous series of this programme have focused on British second-home purchasers flashing their cash in various overseas locations where local people can't afford the prices being asked by property developers. CH 4's new approach will show overseas investors choosing British locations to develop as second homes.

The Rural Development Agency's response was a positive one. “This will showcase British vernacular architecture and put our less well known areas in the public eye,” a spokesman said this morning. “It will revitalise urban and rural areas, promote sustainability, improve regional infrastructure and facilitate innovation.”

British families who are unable to afford first homes in their home areas, where prices may be more than twelve times their annual income, are being advised by the RDA to move abroad. Mr Patterson's wife Lisa was being restrained by her family, and was unavailable for comment.

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