It is an unusual moment in local history when a family can say they are selling their island home in Malmesbury to move to ‘drier’ land.

But that is what Jake and Alex Hamilton-Burnet hope for after accepting an offer on their four-bedroom property in The Maltings, complete with its own one-acre island.

The couple served in the RAF before leaving to further their Hamilton-Burnet Art company and now want to move to the edge of town.

Mrs Hamilton-Burnet, a former navigator at RAF Lyneham, said: “We have been living in the house for ten-and-a-half years. When we bought it, the island was overgrown with brambles. Jake hacked them down and turned it into a lawn.”

The house has been sold to another Malmesbury family with two children, through Lockstones Estate Agents, Malmesbury High Street.

Mrs Hamilton-Burnet said: “I will be very sad to leave.”

Her husband said: “It has taken a long time to develop but it is all worth it.”