Cottage sale omits nuclear view

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The cottage, and a bird's eye view of its surroundings

An advert for an "exceptional fisherman's cottage" in Kent has been criticised for failing to mention the nuclear power station on its doorstep.

The three-bedroom "not to be missed" bungalow at Dungeness is being sold for £247,000.

Estate agent Geering & Colyer points out its proximity to a nature reserve and photos show it in rural isolation.

But New Romney Town Council said it was "disingenuous" not to mention its neighbours, Dungeness A and B.

Even if the power plants were not included in the pictures, mention should have been made about them being nearby Valerie Tully New Romney Town Council

There are also plans to build a new nuclear reactor, Dungeness C, nearby.

Valerie Tully, clerk of New Romney Town Council, said: "There's really not a lot of point in not being honest because, once you arrive at the place, you can't help but notice the power plants there.

"I suppose they felt people would be put off, but they should also know that the late film producer Derek Jarman lived in the area for many years and we get a lot of visitors.

"Even if the power plants were not included in the pictures, mention should have been made about them being nearby."

The Dungeness A site, which started generating electricity into the National Grid in 1965, was decommissioned in 2006.

Bleak beauty

Nearby Dungeness B site will stay open until 2018.

A spokesman for Geering and Colyer, of New Romney, said: "I've got no comment to make on it."

Visitors have long been attracted to the area's nature reserve, RSPB Dungeness, and the bleak beauty of the nearby shingle bank.

One of its most famous residents, avant-garde artist Derek Jarman, created a garden from driftwood, beach pebbles, old fishing tackle and pieces of twisted metal at Prospect Cottage.

Jarman - at first a relatively inexperienced gardener - wrote about the creation of the garden in his diaries and used it in his films.