House prices in Southwold have risen so much that a Russian oligarch has been forced to buy a beach hut instead.

The billionaire industrialist could not afford to buy even a terraced house in the achingly posh Suffolk coastal town.

Instead, he had to settle for the beach hut for a trifling £150,000.

Keen to preserve his privacy and keep a low profile, he repainted the beach hut in the colours of the Russian flag.

Local property expert Chris Merrick said: “The property prices in Southwold are outrageous. Recently a local woman managed to buy a house and it made the national news.

“Even billionaire Russian oligarchs can’t afford it, and have resorted to snapping up the beach huts instead.

“This deal went through two weeks ago, and if it wasn’t for the hut being painted in the colours of the Russian flag, no-one would have noticed.

The Suffolk Gazette approached the rich owner, who made his money in Russian mines, in one of the local Southwold pubs.

He tried to appear friendly by offering to buy our man a drink.

“What’s your poison?” he said.

Landlady Lorraine Fisher, 34, explained: “He comes in here quite a lot and keeps himself to himself.

“Sales of vodka have sky-rocketed.”