Roy and Hayley Tucker's struggle to find an affordable house in a picturesque rural village illustrates a growing problem faced by young families across Britain.

So desperate are the couple to buy a property in Ambridge, the fictional setting for Radio 4's The Archers, that Roy's father Mike is even considering selling his own home to provide funds to help them climb on to the expensive rural housing ladder.

But according to a study carried out by The Sunday Telegraph, in real life neither the Tuckers nor most of their fellow villagers could afford to live in Am-bridge, where the main characters boast a property portfolio worth almost £40 million.

The astonishing value of the 26 properties featured in the programme, respected for its accurate portrayal of rural life, has surprised fans of the radio soap first broadcast in 1957.

"The residents of Ambridge are unbelievably lucky in the property sense," said a spokesman for Archers Addicts, the show's largest "unauthorised" fan club. "All the characters manage to stay in the village, even if they can't afford to live there.

"There is definitely a house fairy in Ambridge, who magically appears and makes houses available to people when they need one. How they afford it is anyone's guess."

The value of the houses was calculated by estate agents working in Inkberrow, the pretty Worcestershire village that provided the inspiration for Ambridge and where house prices have soared by 159 per cent in the past six years. Provided with detailed descriptions of the properties owned by the characters, they were asked to calculate what those homes would cost if they existed for real in Inkberrow.

The three firms - Timothy Lea and Griffiths in Evesham, Knight Frank in Worcester, and Allan Morris in Pershore - concluded that a third of the properties would cost more than £1 million and that, in total, they had a value of £37.5 million.

Ambridge's most expensive property, the 1,585-acre Home Farm, owned by Brian and Jennifer Aldridge, is valued at £6 million. Other valuable properties include Brookfield Farm, owned by David and Ruth Archer, which has a price tag of £2.5 million, Grey Gables Country House Hotel, bought by Oliver and Caroline Sterling, at £3 million, and the £2 million Lower Loxley Hall, home to Nigel and Elizabeth Pargetter.

Some of the characters own more than one property. Lilian Bellamy, who lives in the £2.5 million Georgian Dower House, also has a half share in The Bull, the village pub, which is valued at £600,000. In addition to Grey Gables, the Sterlings own the 50-acre Grange Farm which would fetch £1 million.

The high prices would also affect those who rent in Ambridge, making it difficult to save enough to keep up with the rising costs of buying a home. For example, tenant farmers Tony and Pat Archer would find it impossible to raise the £2 million needed to buy the 172-acre Bridge Farm which is their home.

Audrey Steel, a district councillor in Inkberrow where the new health centre has just been named Grey Gables in honour of Ambridge, said local people could not compete with the property portfolios of their fictitious counterparts. "People do love the programme but £1 million for a property is stretching it a bit," she said.

Explaining how the difficulties faced by the Tuckers were shared by many in Inkberrow, she said: "Young people have had to move away and are being pushed into the towns. It's emptying our village of young people."

Earlier this month, a report by the Halifax bank revealed that house prices in the country were 14 per cent higher than in towns, with the average price of a rural property now standing at £246,104.

Adam Sampson, the chief executive of Shelter, the homelessness and housing charity, said: "There are spiralling property costs in the countryside which means that property in many people's areas far outstrips their means. Young people especially are being driven out of the villages in which they grew up in a search for accommodation."

• Additional reporting: Stephanie Plentl

The real cost of Ambridge property

Ambridge Hall, owned by Lynda and Robert Snell: £1 million

Arkwright Hall, owned by Jack Woolley, but leased to The Landmark Trust: £1.5 million

Bridge Farm, leased to Tony and Pat Archer: £2 million

Brookfield Farm, owned by David and Ruth Archer: £2.5 million

The Bull, owned by Sid Perks and Lilian Bellamy: £600,000

The Dower House, owned by Lilian Bellamy: £2.5 million

Grange Farm, owned by Oliver and Caroline Sterling: £1 million

Grey Gables Country House Hotel, owned by Oliver and Caroline Sterling: £3 million

Home Farm, 1,585-acre property owned by Brian and Jennifer Aldridge: £6 million

Lower Loxley Hall, owned by Elizabeth and Nigel Pargetter: £2 million

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