A building once home to a family of pigs today boasts a five-star accommodation rating for human guests.

Cooper's Cottage is a Grade II listed farm building at Cooper's Farm, near Stonegate, East Sussex.

It used to be a pigsty but has now been converted into luxury self-catering accommodation which has been given the top rating by the South-East Tourist Board.

Owners Jane and Adrian Brewer will soon welcome their first guests.

They took over the farm three years ago and established a flock of sheep and a small pedigree herd of Sussex cattle but in order to run it as a full-time business, they decided to diversify.

The couple made a successful application to the Rural Enterprise Scheme for funding to support their new business idea after attending a Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) business clinic.

Mrs Brewer said: "We wanted to operate Cooper's Farm as a traditional High Weald farm but soon realised that, at 90 acres, it was too small to run as a viable business.

"With the funding from Defra, we have been able to convert an old pigsty into holiday accommodation and, with income from tourism as well as farming, the future for Cooper's Farm is much more secure."

The Brewers have also undertaken extensive conservation work on the farm with help from Defra's Countryside Stewardship Scheme, including the restoration of ponds and hedgerows.

Neville Sherlock, senior rural development adviser of Defra's rural development service, said: "We are delighted.

The Rural Enterprise Scheme aims to help farmers to diversify and also to support the rural economy more broadly."

Anyone who wants similar advice from Defra can phone Margaret Rulton on 0118 9392347.