Actresses Barbara Windsor and Nerys Hughes were among the celebrities who attended a party thrown by TV producers Tom Gutteridge and Rosetta Bain to celebrate their first two years in Market Lavington.

More than 300 people, including 60 villagers, enjoyed a barbecue in the grounds of the couple's medieval manor house.

But it was not what the couple were looking for when they decided to buy a home in the West Country.

Mr Gutteridge said: "I wanted a house on the edge of a village somewhere with about five acres. Rosetta and I had been staying regularly at the Babbington House Hotel near Frome, so we started looking in that area.

"The first two we saw were completely unsuitable and when we turned up here, we weren't confident we would like it. It doesn't look much from the outside but when we stepped through the door, we fell in love with the place."

The manor house, close to the centre of Market Lavington, is one of the oldest houses in Wiltshire and one of the few Grade I listed homes in the country. It dates from 1260, a century before the nearby St Mary's Church, and was originally built as an aisled hall, a typical medieval design.

The house was extended in the 14th, 15th and 18th centuries and was renovated in 1873 but much of the roof is original and Mr Gutteridge and Ms Bain spent their first year in the house returning it to its former glory.

Mr Gutteridge said: "It had fallen into some disrepair and recent decoration had been less than sympathetic. We discovered when removing the Artex wallcovering that some of the walls were the original wattle and daub."

Now the house has been rejuvenated, Mr Gutteridge has turned his attention to the one-acre garden, which he wants to transform into a Victorian garden in the style of legendary garden designer Gertrude Jekyll.

All this is going on as Mr Gutteridge and Ms Bain continue their busy lives in television. Ms Bain is head of entertainment at production company Shine and has worked on many popular series, including Blind Date.

Mr Gutteridge began his media career in 1973 as a news trainee with the BBC, working on The Nine O'Clock News and Nationwide. He later rose to become director of Panorama and General Election broadcasts.

He left the BBC in 1984 to set up the independent TV production company Mentorn, famous for Question Time, the current Queen and Country series and particularly Robot Wars. Mentorn has now been sold to Television Corporation, the largest independent production company in Britain, but Mr Gutteridge remains as chief executive of Mentorn.

Robot Wars gives Mr Gutteridge particular satisfaction because he championed the idea, the brainchild of a group of 'anoraks', against all the odds.

One of the original house robots, Sir Killalot, is no stranger to Market Lavington, and turned up to open the festivities at the Queen's golden jubilee in the village at the beginning of June.

Mr Gutteridge said: "We didn't plan it, but because we love the house and Market Lavington so much, we have made it our permanent home. I'd like to spend more time here. The village has welcomed us with open arms."

The recent party found local friends mixing with the stars, including Beatles artist and repertoire man Sir George Martin, musical director Lawrie Holloway, newscaster Richard Lindley, Camelot founder Tim Holley, TV presenters John Stapleton and Lynn Faulds-Wood, and many more.