TWO doll's houses have led to a boost of over £1,000 for St Margaret's Somerset Hospice funds.

The first desirable residence, donated to the hospice shop in Minehead by a well wisher, created quite a stir when it went on show in the shop window.

And manager Christine Slade found two potential purchasers waiting when she turned up to open the shop on the morning it was featured in the Free Press.

After amicable discussion, one of them bought it for £395 - but phone calls kept coming in as the day went on.

And one caller offered a second doll's house - an enormous mansion, fully lit and furnished (pictured).

The original doll's house had been full of things which the donor had designed and made for it, including tapestry carpets and handmade cushions.

She was contacted and she managed to produce some more tapestry carpets and other trimmings for house number two.

It had already been agreed that, as it looked so attractive, the first house could stay in the window until Christmas.

But then the volunteer acting as estate agent for the week had to spend all day Sunday packing up the hundreds of tiny items belonging to the first house, and unpacking and setting out the second one.

And that caused some confusion among shoppers who had seen the original house and thought it appeared to have somehow grown over the weekend!

The next day this house, too, was gone - sold for £500.

"It was all really wonderful," said Christine.

"I don't know about the national average but houses are certainly not slow to sell in Minehead!

"We are really grateful. Including gift aid, the houses have raised over £1,000 for the hospice."