House-hunters deluged a couple with phone calls after their home appeared up for sale in a Birmingham Mail supplement at a seemingly bargain price.

Their detached four-bedroom two-bathroom luxury home in Edgbaston was being advertised for sale at just £53,500.

But if the hapless bargain-hunters had looked a little more closely at the ad, they would have seen the page was part of an edition reprinted from 1982 to mark the silver anniversary of Aston Villa’s European Cup winning exploits.

More than 20 readers rang the number underneath the ad to request a viewing of the property, which could be worth around £500,000 today.

The owners were amazed people had thought the ad for their Bryant Homes property was real… when the paper also carried a front page article announcing the start of the Falklands war!

Retired civil servant Anne Edwards told the Mail: “I had not seen the reprinted supplement last week because I was at the Villa-Sheffield United match.

"When I got home there were four missed calls on my answer machine asking to view my house.

"The calls were coming in so thick and fast that I put an answer machine message on the phone telling people it was all a mistake."

Despite it being anumber for Bryant Homes in the ad, when the show home was bought the phone number was transferred to the new owners, which meant the would-be purchsers got straight through 25 years on.