THE only surviving example of Britain’s first ever double-decker caravan is up for sale at £40,000 after being restored by a York man who bought it for £1.

When Tim Mitchinson rescued the van 10 years ago after buying it from a caravan club, it was a rotting hulk on the point of collapse.

Tim said he couldn’t bear to see it scrapped and following a decision driven by “English eccentricity and insanity”, he embarked on a restoration with friend Mark Cranfield.

He has now reluctantly put his beloved Berkeley Statesman on the market to make way for an extension on the side of his home in York.

The double-decker cost around £1,065 - the same as a terraced home - when it was launched at the Earl’s Court Motor Show in 1951.

It was a star attraction thanks to its upstairs bedroom, rooftop patio and cutting-edge interiors by mid-century modern design icons John and Sylvia Reid.

The caravan, which was not built to last and is the only survivor, has been fully restored but also now features modern conveniences such as showers, flushable toilets, gas cooker and even a fold-away sink.

“Luckily for this one, someone clad it in aluminum in the early 1970s and it acted like a big bandage,” Mr Mitchinson said.

“I need to sell it so the house can be extended but I will miss it terribly. I am really proud of rescuing what is a valuable piece of social history.”

The vintage van is up for sale with RM English estate agents for £40,000.

James Burley, of RM English, says: “It’s an amazing property and very unusual." For details contact RM English on 01904 697900 or visit www.rmenglish.co.uk.

Mr Mitchinson first heard about the “elder Statesman” when he rang the Historic Caravan Club to ask if it knew of a micro caravan that he could tow with his Austin Somerset soft-top car.

“They told me they had the Berkeley Statesman but it was far too big for what I wanted,” he added.

“When I next spoke to them, they told me they had five days to find it a home or it would have to be scrapped because the air museum that was storing it wanted it out.

“Then it was about extinction which makes me very upset, so I said I’d take it.

“I’m not sure how many were produced but I think it was probably about 150 and one of the biggest issues was the cladding.

“That’s what killed them off because to stop it from rotting it needed to be repainted every year and that rarely happened.”

While it was marketed as a touring caravan, but there was a housing shortage at the time and caravans were being used as temporary accommodation.

A number of Statesman’s were also bought for use as married quarters on American Air Force bases.

The Statesman sleeps seven and was luxurious inside with all mod cons and even a working coal fire.

Redundant by the mid-1970s, it was then bought by a couple in Bedfordshire who used it as a playhouse for their children.

The family had it in their garden for 35 years by which point it was derelict.

They were on the verge of demolishing it when a friend suggested they contact the Historic Caravan Club, which took it in, before selling it to Mr Mitchinson for £1.

He has since rebuilt the chassis and installed a new timber frame. It was insulated and then covered in super-strength marine ply clad in aluminum.

He wanted the interiors to remain as faithful as possible to John and Sylvia Reids’ original but, as they were all but destroyed, he had to rely on old photographs.

He found two old 1950s gas ovens being sold for scrap and used the parts to build one working oven for the Statesman.

And he also found an antique fold-away handbasin from a 1950s train.

The built-in furniture has been replicated and the rest is vintage via eBay. The flooring is red linoleum, which is more inviting than the original brown.