A DESIGNER hoping to build her dream home in the Devizes area has been stopped in her tracks by the lack of available building plots.

Annabel Claridge's attempts to realise her ambition are the subject of a BBC TV series with the working title of The Home Team, due for broadcast some time next year.

But although Miss Claridge has been filmed visiting the designer of her home in Vermont, USA, and around the village of Urchfont, one of her preferred locations, she has been stumped in finding a plot of land where she can build the four-bedroom Georgian style house.

She said: "For as long as I can remember I have wanted to build this style of house. My mother died last year and I thought that if I didn't get something done now, I never would.

"I looked for ages for someone who could build it for me. In the end I surfed the net and finally found Mike Connor in Vermont."

The house, being what the Americans call 'clapboard' but known as weather-boarding in Britain, can be built in 19 days by a team of three qualified carpenters. It will arrive in an enormous flat pack, each section numbered and ready to put up.

But Miss Claridge's project is in jeopardy if she cannot find the plot of land she needs.

She said: "I am absolutely convinced there is a plot of land available but they do not often come onto the market."

Miss Claridge sold her flat in London and moved to a rented house in a village near Warminster to investigate areas in west Wiltshire and Somerset.

But it quickly became obvious to her that the Devizes area was far more inviting. She said: "There is so much more happening in the town and in the surrounding area and everyone has been so friendly."

She visited a friend in Urchfont and was shown around possible building sites in the village, but up until now she has not been able to interest anyone in selling her a piece of land for her project.

She has also been looking in Rowde, another lively community where she feels she would be welcomed.

Planning officers at Kennet District Council have been extremely helpful, she said, and quite hopeful that permission could be granted. Miss Claridge, 48, is a designer of embroidery products sold at up-market outlets, including at royal residences such as Buckingham Palace and Holyroodhouse, as part of the Royal Collection.

But the search for her own home turf has become so engrossing that she has been unable to work for the past few months.

She said: "I have virtually written off this year to have the house built but I will soon have to get back to work. I am willing to pay the full market value of any site I am offered."

Anyone with a piece of land they are willing to sell can call Miss Claridge on (01985) 844047.