British family house for sale with tortoise tenant

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) A family house in southern England has gone on sale with a unique feature -- a tortoise that has been in residence for more than half a century.

Eliza, who lives under a rose bush in the garden, has been there since World War Two and is now considered to be a fixture of the five-bedroomed property in the city of Exeter.

''It is a beautiful house. Central Exeter. Nice big family home.

What is unusual is that it has this big sunny, south-facing back garden where Eliza has lived since 1940,'' a spokesman for city real estate agents Palmer Collins said.

''She is more than happy there and we are looking for someone to buy the house and look after Eliza,'' he told Reuters by telephone from the city 190 km southwest of London.

He said he was not aware of any similar sale before, but that buyers were already lining up to view the 350,000 pounds house and its hard-cased tenant.

Reuters DKS GC0932