Monty Don has lifted the lid about his old family home as he revealed the heartbreaking reason he decided to move.

The Gardeners’ World presenter, 69, was surprised to discover that his old home in the heart of London was being advertised by estate agents as having a garden “designed by Monty Don” 36 years after he sold it.

The modest Victorian end terrace home, situated between Islington and Hackney, was where the broadcaster lived with his now wife Sarah Erskine in the 1980s, when they were jewellery designers.

According to Daily Mail, the horticulturist told an audience at his one-man show in the Somerset: “The house we bought in 1981 for £30,000 was sold last year for £1.7million. And it was advertised as having ‘a garden don by Monty Don’ – which probably added three and sixpence to the value.”

The gardener and his wife Sarah decided to leave the area after their third burglary, but said he was “just as happy in that 100ft by 30ft London garden as at any other time gardening since.”

He added: “Gardening is nothing to do with size, or money; it’s what you get out of it.” One thing he did get out of it was a lot of scrap metal, after the previous owner used to buy cars for parts and ditch leftovers in the garden.

He recalled: “I was turning the soil and I would suddenly hit a bonnet.” It comes after the presenter was left “stark b*****k naked” in his garden after he suffered an unfortunate blunder.

The star recalled how a herd of cows once caused chaos in his garden in Longmeadow, Ivington, Herefordshire. Speaking to The Sun, Monty revealed that he often sees all kinds of wildlife from his bathroom window – but not all of them are welcome.

He told the publication: “Sometimes we have wildlife there that we don’t want. One time some cattle got in. I got in the bath, looked out of the window and there was this big white face looking at me. So I got a towel and rushed outside to chase them.

“I put on some wellies and then the towel fell and I was running around Long Meadow stark b*****k naked”. The star added how he eventually managed to get the herd out and keep them out to ensure that it doesn’t happen again in the future,

Recently, he revealed his return to work date following his recent health woes as he landed a brand new BBC series away from Gardeners’ World.

The TV star was forced to cancel six gigs during his An Audience With Monty Don tour after he had to stay in hospital for several days. But he landed another show as he will still star in Monty Don’s British Gardens.