Alan Titchmarsh has revealed he is moving house and seeking out pastures new – and there might be a newly-uncovered reason why. The gardening icon, 76, is preparing to leave the Hampshire home he has cherished for 23 years, citing a desire to downsize, but a newly uncovered plan for a massive housing development just yards from his fence line suggests a much more contentious reason for the move.

The Love Your Weekend presenter has lived in a gorgeous £4 million farmhouse-style pad in the rural village of Holybourne, near Alton in Hampshire, since 2002 and recently told BBC Gardeners' World magazine why it was time to open a new chapter: "[It's] time to downsize - a little - as those of us of relatively senior years are regularly told we would be wise to do.

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