Fans of TV sports presenter Des Lynam have a chance to poke round the flat where he lived as a young man.

Nowadays, the silver-haired presenter owns a £500,000 detached house in an exclusive private estate in West Sussex, which he shares with his long-term partner Rose Diamond, an interior designer.

The couple have a second luxurious home in Chiswick, London.

However, life for the former insurance salesman and BBC Radio Brighton reporter was not always so glamorous.

During the early years of his career in the Seventies and Eighties, he lived in a modest two-bedroom flat in the Patcham area of Brighton.

The £137,500 flat from which he launched his TV career is on the market and available to be viewed by prospective buyers.

It is part of Wootton House, a historic late 18th Century house on the corner of Old London Road and Ladies Mile Road and filled with charming period features.

It is pleasant but far from the luxury of Lynam's current pad, having two bedrooms, a sitting room, a small bathroom and a kitchen-breakfast room.

The new owners will be able to sit in Lynam's former living room as they watch him presenting ITV's The Premiership or wile away the hours reading the football results lying in the bath in his former bathroom.

They will be able to enjoy almost unchanged views over Preston Village from the master bedroom where Lynam slept alone after his divorce in 1974.

If, like Lynam, the new owners commute to London, they will be thankful for its proximity to the A23 and M23 which will save them vital minutes in the rush hour.

Lynam bought the flat as a young, relatively unknown radio sports reporter after the end of his marriage to Susan Skinner.

By the time he sold up nine years later, he had become a household name as presenter of BBC 1's Grandstand and was well on his way to establishing a reputation as TV's Mr Smooth.

The flat is for sale through the Patcham office of estate agents Bradford & Bingley, Geering & Colyer.

Agent David Morley said: "It is a very attractive apartment in a good position.

"It is close to shops and a supermarket and has good access to the A23.

"People are interested to hear Des Lynam used to live here - it does come up in conversation when I show people round.

"It hasn't influenced the sale so far but it is certainly a talking point."

Two potential buyers had shown a definite interest in the flat.