It is a three-storey house with six bedrooms and glorious views over a lake and it is about to go on the market. The only catch is that it comes with a ready-made family.

Robin and Margaret Baker are getting ready to head off to Spain to enjoy their retirement and are putting their home of 20 years up for sale.

But the new owner must be willing, once a year, to share their garden with a pair of swans while they make a nest and rear their cygnets.

The buyer will also get a computer and web cam thrown in for good measure so they can keep an eye on the doting parents next time around.

For Mr Baker, who is a retired IT consultant, is so fond of the courting swans and their family, he has set up a web site with live footage of the creatures making their nest and sitting on their eight eggs.

Part-time twitcher Mr Baker, 54, set up the two cameras last year, when the swans walked up the slipway from the lakeside of Widewater in Lancing, and made a nest in the his garden.

This year, the swans have returned and are taking it in turns to sit on eight eggs, which are due to hatch any day.

Father-of-two Mr Baker is waiting until the swans have reared their cygnets before putting the house on the market, although he has already loaded information and images of the property on his Swan Watch web site in the hope of attracting early interest.

He said: "I would really like to sell the house to someone who has an interest in wildlife and perhaps someone who would like to continue with the web site.

"I'm going to leave a computer and a web cam here for the buyer so they can watch it next time."

Mr Baker and his wife plan to travel Spain for a while in a mobile home until they spot a property they like.

The egg action can be seen on www.robinbaker.net