A beach hut with no running water or electricity supply in a north Wales resort has been sold for �20,000.

The green-painted wooden structure sits on a slipway to the sea at Bwlchtocyn in Abersoch.

It measures 12ft by 12ft and contains two changing cubicles - and nothing else.

The Beckhams looked at property in Abersoch

The price tag was greeted without surprise by the local vendor.

Estate agent Martin Lewthwaite said there was a big demand for beach huts and the price "did not surprise" him.

He described the hut as an ideal location for a family who wished to sit on the beach and enjoy a summer's day in the picturesque resort.

But locals may be less than happy to learn that the buyers are a family from the north of England.

In 1998, reports that then-fiancees David Beckham and Victoria Adams were to buy a property in the town were greeted with a pledge of action by Welsh language activists.

The Welsh Language Society (Cymdeithas Yr Iaith Gymraeg) said rich outsiders were driving up the price of housing for local people without contributing to the local economy.

The society claimed locals were forced to leave Welsh-speaking communities as a result.

Fears that such communities could be destroyed by too many English-language speakers moving into sensitive areas prompted the setting up of the pressure group Cymuned in 2001.

However, it remains to be seen whether the purchase of a beach hut, with no sleeping provision or planning permission to convert it to a more accommodating structure, would arouse the same level of concern.

Bargain

This is not the first time huts of this sort have attracted large selling tags.

In fact, compared to some properties in parts of England, the Abersoch beach hut could be regarded as a bargain.

A 55-year-old shack made from packing boxes marketed as a beach hut although it stood six miles from the sea in Suffolk was put up for sale at �60,000.

And a beach hut in Dorset overlooking marshland was priced at �73,000 in April this year.

But a pre-war two bedroom beach chalet, also in Dorset, eclipsed its owners' wildest expectations by selling for �120,000, more than double the original asking price.