A DISUSED rectory which has been plagued by vandals and fly-tippers is due to be sold at auction next week. The Old Rectory in Whitton Church Lane, Ipswich, has stood empty for just over a year and church leaders hope selling it off will put an end to the problems.

A DISUSED rectory which has been plagued by vandals and fly-tippers is due to be sold at auction next week.

The Old Rectory in Whitton Church Lane, Ipswich, has stood empty for just over a year and church leaders hope selling it off will put an end to the problems.

Andrew Dotchin, vicar at Whitton Church, said: "It's the end of an area and we will be sad to see it go, but we have to move on and do things differently.

"I will be going along to the auction to meet the new owners and look forward to seeing what they are going to do with it."

Over the last year the building, which is owned by the diocese, has become a target for vandals.

In February ambulances were called to the house after a series of fires were started there.

A teenage girl needed treatment for smoke inhalation and Mr Dotchin said he was fearful further accidents could happen because it was impossible to stop people getting in there.

Mr Dotchin's wife discovered sleeping bags in the building and said she was scared to enter the property because she did not know who was in there.

Earlier in the year the grounds of the building were used as a dumping ground by fly-tippers who left several trailer-loads of household items and garden waste there.

The house has remained empty since the vicar before last left. Mr Dotchin chose not to live there because of high maintenance costs and lives in a new rectory on the corner of Fircroft Road and Defoe Road.

He said: "The Old Rectory will be sadly missed but the new rectory is much more suitable as it's much less imposing and its easier for people to come and visit you in the middle of a busy estate."

The Old Rectory is a Grade II listed building with eight bedrooms and four reception rooms.

The suggested guide price for it is £325,000.

It will be auctioned off on Thursday.