By Kate MaxwellTHE beach huts in Southwold, which were on the market for between £25,000 and £45,000 are all under offer – and making headlines on the other side of the world.

By Kate Maxwell

THE beach huts in Southwold, which were on the market for between £25,000 and £45,000 are all under offer – and making headlines on the other side of the world.

Deals were struck for the highly-desirable chalets in the sought-after seaside location within weeks of being advertised – and, according to estate agents in the town's High Street, there are unlikely to be any more on the market for some time.

Sonia Moore, from HA Adnams, said: "At this time of year people want to purchase them, not sell them."

The prices of the huts vary according to location. The most expensive, Breakaway, sits on the promenade at Gun Hill and has a balcony and steps.

The cheapest, Away Day, at £25,000, is located nearer the pier and further from the centre of the town. Two fishermen's huts, at the Blackshore Harbour, which can be used only for storing boat-related tackle, have also been sold for £10,000 and £7,000.

Adrian Smith, of estate agent Jennie Jones, said: "The fishermen's huts can only be used for fishing or boating interests, they can't be converted into beach huts."

The beach hut Elizabeth, which sits directly on the beach near Gun Hill, made headline news in property-conscious Hong Kong, where prices for apartments are among the highest in the world.

Originally the agents advertised the hut, which is roughly the size of a small garden shed, for £35,000, but reduced it to £30,000 when it did not fetch that price.

Bill and Dawn Roper, from Reydon, could not believe their eyes when their son Ian, who lives in Hong Kong, where he works in marketing, sent them a cutting from the Chinese version of the local newspaper, The Apple Daily.

Ian Roper's Taiwanese wife Ying Hsien Lee, who calls herself Jenny, spotted the article in a copy of the newspaper.

"We couldn't believe it. It's amazing to think of Southwold being famous over there," said Mrs Roper, who was brought up in Reydon and retired to the village with her husband, a former policeman, seven years ago.

kate.maxwell@eadt.co.uk