With its rolling lush countryside, six acres of woodland, private lake and riverside location, the Windell family home in France is the sort of place where many people would dream of living.

That's without even mentioning the pleasant climate and culinary treats a Gallic lifestyle have to offer.

But remarkably Martin and Gill Windell have announced they are prepared to hand over this idyll for two years, free of charge, to a willing occupant.

The only catch is that they need something quite significant in exchange, a family house in Brighton they can live at during the same time.

The couple have come up with the house swap scheme in an attempt to find somewhere to stay while their daughter Alice, 16, takes up a place at a college in the city.

They moved to the house, their dream home, in 2003 after spending almost 20 years living in Telscombe Cliffs and Ovingdean in Brighton.

The land they bought in Brittany came with both the main house and a gite which they set about transforming to be their home.

Mr Windell, 48, who spent 17 years as a teacher at Ovingdean Hall School, said: "Five years later we are completely immersed in our French life style, the houses are finished, our gite business is flourishing, and our daughter is bilingual - although it hasn't all been plain sailing. We made plenty of faux pas with our limited understanding of the language and culture.

"Our natural surroundings are wonderful, the neighbours delightful, and we have some great friends, both French and English.

"However, our daughter would like to do her sixth form in the UK. While she is now fluent in both languages she would like to study in her mother tongue again, A-levels take two years compared with the Baccalaureate's three and she wants to spend time with friends made at St Margarets in Rottingdean with whom she has stayed in-touch via Facebook."

The couple hope a return to Brighton will be another chapter in a packed life story, which has involved travels around Morocco and southern Europe but would like to go back to France again afterwards.

Mr Windell said he had struggled with illness but was now finally fit enough again to start work on a "cabane perchee", a treehouse with all the creature comforts the family need to relax in during the summer.

Anyone interested in taking up the Windell family's offer should email them at windell@aliceadsl.fr