Pop star George Michael can expect a warm welcome in a village on the Oxfordshire border where he has bought a £1.6m country cottage.

George, 35, beat off fellow singer Robbie Williams to snap up the five-bedroom property in Goring, just yards away from the village church.

The star - who appears to have decided the bells wouldn't wake him up before he go goes - is expected to move into Mill Cottage soon.

John Farrow, Goring Parish Council chairman and a Tory county councillor, said: "He's welcome to the village. We've had such people before. He's not the first star that's lived in the village by any means. We've had people like Pete Townshend and John Lloyd. We treat people as anybody else and hope they will tune in with village life. If anybody saw George Michael in the street they would speak to him."

Mr Farrow said Danny La Rue used to come down to neighbouring Streatley and would always stop and pass the time of day in the street. A worker at the Leatherne Bottle in Goring who gave her name as 'Annie' said: "Obviously he's very welcome. Everybody's thrilled that he's coming to the village. But give him some space.

"I just want the guy to have a nice pleasant restful place to come and hide. "

She said George's privacy should be respected and she hoped that 'teeny boppers' and 'Reading gays' would not turn up on his doorstep.

Villagers have reported hearing the star singing in the garden and he surprised pub regulars at The Miller of Mansfield by turning up for Sunday lunch. Unfortunately he was too late to place an order.

In previous years, Spice Girl Mel B showed an interest in buying Michael Caine's mansion in nearby South Stoke.

Story date: Monday 01 March

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