HOUSEBUYERS are moving into a new home unaware that they have snapped up a piece of pop history.

The former family home of pop heartthrob Jay Brown, of boyband FIVE, has changed hands in double-quick time - but the new owners are oblivious about their famous predecessor.

The end-of-terrace house, on Wilderspool Causeway, went on the market with an asking price of £77,950.

The ex-Thomas Boteler High School pupil, whose band are now on track to be the next Take That, spoke fondly of the house where he spent his formative years.

Said Jay: "That house is full of great memories for me. I lived there at a very happy time in my life, from the age of nine to about the age of 14.

"It's the best place my family ever lived. I always dreamed of buying it back again someday, but now I have to buy a flat in London. All I can say is, whoever buys it had better look after it!"

A spokesman for estate agents Sykes Waterhouse said the property had now been sold, but that neither they or the buyers had known it was a pop landmark.

He added: "I can't say I've ever heard of FIVE, but then I'm still stuck in the days of Elvis! It's certainly a point of interest, but I very much doubt whether it would have affected the asking price - it's not as if it's Paul McCartney's home.

"We're quite used to selling famous people's houses, but as far as we were concerned this was just a very normal house which sold very quickly," he said.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.