IT’S been a busy week for Hitchin estate agents, who have seen a “considerable response” in people from outside the area displaying an interest in purchasing property in the town, after it appeared on a popular property TV show.

Hitchin appeared on Location, Location, Location last Tuesday, with couple Hilary and Rob looking for a three-bed house in the town for �250,000.

They didn’t manage to find anything suitable so plumped for Bedford instead, but the programme featured Hitchin considerably, painting it in a favourable light.

Ever since, local estate agents have reported a surge in people ringing to register their interest in purchasing and renting in the town, with the programme believed to be the reason why.

Morag Norgan, of Norgans Estate and Lettings, said: “It’s been over the last week or so that people have been ringing up.

“There have been a steady increase of people wanting to move out of London into Hitchin, because of good transport links and good schools. It’s been a hub on the property market for a while, but programmes like that certainly increase people’s perception of the area.

“At the moment, it’s more people displaying an interest. We’ve had a number of people, particularly last weekend, who came into the area especially after seeing the programme. We’ve had lots of people joining our mailing list too.

“It will take several weeks to see if they are genuine or not.”

Mark Lloyd, of Acorn Estate Agents, said that at the weekend, people had driven for up to two hours from outside the area to make enquiries at the office.

Visitors included people from Walthamstow and Enfield in London, who made called in and asked to be put onto the mailing list, as well as others who made casual enquiries.

Mr Lloyd added: “At the weekend, we had people coming in saying how well the town was portrayed, and that they were making enquiries after watching it.

“It’s quite something. On the programme, the interviewing of locals on the market place and their reaction to why they live here was key, and that was compounded when people said it was only 30 miles from London. “People came in at the weekend, I would say, within a couple of hours drive, and we’ve had calls from people who heard about it and watched it.”

As well as showing several shots of the market and other Hitchin landmarks, town centre businesses were featured on the programme.

Town centre manager Keith Hoskins said: “It showed some great shots of the town and market, and we managed to facilitate so the crews could get up to the church tower to get some shots.

“I think we have been doing pretty well. Estate agents will tell you that property prices are holding up and business seems to be fairly bubbly.

“There seems to have been more people in town in August, what with visitors coming here and people not going away.

“Everybody pulls together and whatever you can do to attract people to the town is good. It’s great that we have people looking at our town, and we hope that it has a knock on effect for business, which in turn promotes Hitchin.”