NEW "sightings" of Manchester United soccer star David Beckham and girlfriend Posh Spice have fuelled rumours that the glamorous couple have been house-hunting in Pendle.

Foulridge housewife Pauline Whitfield is convinced a girl in a red sports car who visited the Coach House in Foulridge - on the market at £225,000 - was the pretty brunette member of the all-girl pop group.

Mother-of-two Pauline, who lives in neighbouring White House Farm, Noyna, says she twice caught sight of a young couple in a soft top Triumph Stag, shortly after former owner Frankie Jay moved out in June.

And when she heard talk of the famous duo visiting the area in a red sports car, everything clicked into place.

She said: "I don't know what David Beckham looks like, so I can't say. But I would swear blind the girl in the car was the Spice girl." Pauline, whose husband Brian is a joiner, added: "I first saw the car when Frank moved out and there was a lot of coming and going at the farm.

"The next time I pulled over on the lane to let them pass. It was a private registered car. "

"I have seen it in the area again since then."

Previous house owner Mr Jay is understood to have been boss of a former Burnley engineering firm, and is believed now to be living in Tenerife.

The sale of the property is being handled by Petty's estate agents, who describe the five-bedroom Coach House as a substantial converted farmhouse in six acres of land.

It has three reception rooms, a stable block, a cocktail bar and a master bedroom with panoramic views over Pendle.

There has been some interest, and it is understood a £150,000 bid has been made by a local man.

Petty's say the property is still on the market but the main interest has come from members of the Press.

A spokesman added that if Beckham and Posh Spice - real name Victoria Adams - have viewed the property, they have not done so via Petty's.

I dated Scary Spice! - see Pulse, in FEATURES

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