People in Devizes were somewhat shocked this week to find that part of their street was seemingly up for sale.

Plots of land on the south east side of Hartmoor Road had been listed by Rightmove to go under the hammer at Charles Darrow Network Auctions on April 22.

Much of the land comprises of publicly maintained highways and pavements - leading to confusion to whether the road was owned by Wiltshire Council or not.

The listing also includes a car park.

The oddly shaped pockets of land have, in fact, been cropping up at auction in the UK increasing rates over the last few years.

Paul Heather of Charles Darrow Network Auctions, said: “We’ve sold over one hundred of these over the past 18 months on behalf of Davis Estates. The sale has come about a through family inheritance. A family development company called Davis Estates, who was a major UK housebuilder dating back to the 1940s.

“They built developments all around the country and what we have been selling are remnants of these developments made up of roads, the pavements, the verges.

“That’s how they have come about, someone passed away and children inherited this land. A lot didn’t even know they had it and had to do a lot of digging.”

While the nature of the street will unlikely change after the auction, the parcels of land would allow the buyer access to future developments, land for the erection of telecoms masts, or garden extensions.

“People don’t really understand we are not actually selling their road, access to their homes won’t be impeded or they’re going to build on green land in front of their homes,” added Paul.

The guide price for the land in Devizes is £1,500.

Rightmove say: “We believe the title will comprise land that is publicly maintained highway, buyers should make their own enquiries in this regard.”