They look like ordinary garages - but they must be the most expensive in Essex after being sold for around £20,000 each.

The block of six garages in Leigh fetched an astonishing £116,050 after being swiftly snapped up when they were put up for auction.

Such is the lack of parking spaces in the town that one of the garages in Queen's Road went for £21,500, with even the auctioneers surprised at their value.

Each of the garages smashed its reserve price of £12,000 and Terence Hair, auctioneer for Hair and Sons, said: "Garages in Leigh have been at a premium for some time and they rarely come up for sale.

"It was surprising for them to sell for quite as much as they did, however, even considering how close they are to the Broadway."

Leigh Town Council chairman Jean Rowswell said she was shocked by the prices people were prepared to pay.

She said: "Someone paying that much for a garage must be mad - it's just ridiculous and anyone with enough to pay £21,000 for a garage must have more money than sense."

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