COMEDIAN Mel Smith is the second celebrity in the space of a month to put his home in a south Oxfordshire village up for sale.

Best known for his work on a series of hit TV shows including Not The Nine O’Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones, Mr Smith is uprooting from the listed barn conversion in Little Haseley near Thame to live full time in London.

Sales brochure photographs of the actor’s sitting room reveal that pride of place is given to a painted portrait of Mr Smith facing his long-standing comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones in an echo of their famous head-to-head sketches in the 1980s comedy series Alas Smith and Jones.

During these tongue-in-cheek chats, Mr Smith played a know-it-all with Mr Rhys Jones cast as his bemused pal.

Monarch of the Glen actress Susan Hampshire’s £1.15m property, which is in the same village and is also a barn conversion, went on the market in August and is now under offer.

Mr Smith, whose wife Pam is a former model, studied psychology at New College in Oxford.

As well as a performer, he is a successful writer, director and producer.

In 1981, he and Mr Rhys Jones formed the production company Talkback which was behind some of the most successful comedy TV programmes of the 1980s and 1990s, including Da Ali G Show, Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge, Smack the Pony and They Think It’s All Over.

They sold the firm to media giant Pearson in 2000 for £62m.

Malcolm Newdick, vice-chairman of the Haseleys Parish Council, said: “Susan Hampshire has always done a lot for the village and the community, while Mel Smith has been an auctioneer at our annual Pumpkin Show.

“They will be a sad loss.”

Set in 1.5 acres, Mr Smith’s house, Haseley Barn, is on the market for £1.75m and comes with an annexe, tennis courts, swimming pool with a retractable glass cover, extensive gardens and an orchard.

The entrance hall has a vaulted ceiling with full-height windows and the five-bedroom property has many character features including open fireplaces and exposed beams and stone and brickwork. At the front of the house is a gravel driveway with gated entrance.