HE was the mystery bidder who scored one of the pair of cottages that are believed to be the oldest council houses in the country.

Russell Claydon

HE was the mystery bidder who scored one of the pair of cottages that are believed to be the oldest council houses in the country.

Now Simon Milton, the former Ipswich Town star, can't wait to start restoring the Tattingstone property into his dream family home.

Mr Milton, who spent 11 seasons as a player at Portman Road and still works for the club, said after living in the Tattingstone, near Ipswich, for the past four years he had been eyeing up the historic cottages for a while.

“We love the village and thought it would be an ideal opportunity to get an established property and turn it into a nice family home,” he said.

“I knew I wanted one when I heard they were coming up for auction so I spoke to a few people who were in the property game about what I could and could not do. One of my friends, a developer, looked round with me and liked them so much he bought the other one and we are going to do them up together.”

Duncan Foster, of Framlingham Properties, also an associate director of Ipswich Town Football Club, is a longstanding friend of Mr Milton's who did the bidding at Trinity Park last week on his behalf.

The cottages, thought to have been built during the reign of Henry VIII, were put up for auction at the end of last year after Babergh District Council revealed renovation work could cost about £40,000.

Mr Milton, who is the academy sponsorship manager at Ipswich Town, said: “It is going to be a lot of work and going to cost a lot of money to refurbish to the standard we are looking at but I have a great base to start because they are beautiful cottages. I do not know how long it is going to take - maybe six to nine months.

“I love the look of the old properties with the thatch roofs and for me they look fantastic already and the location is ideal as my wife's family all live around the peninsula and we wanted to stay in Tattingstone.”

He added at £169,000 each they had achieved a “fair price” for the cottage, which doesn't even have a staircase at the moment.

His family have temporarily moved to Ipswich after selling their existing Tattingstone property until renovation work is complete.