A MULTI-MILLION pound house inspired by the cult TV show Thunderbirds has finally sold 10 years after it went on the market - for less than half of the original asking price.

Sandbanks property magnate Eddie Mitchell, who built the property in 2005 in Branksome Park, Poole, based the design on Tracy Island, the fictional headquarters of the International Rescue organisation.

When it first went on the market for £4m there were around 100 people lined up to view it including, it is alleged, Oasis singer Liam Gallagher.

But the distinctive home failed to sell and was put back on the market last April for £3 million.

Businessman Julian Jones, chief executive of Drilling Systems, an international oil drilling consultancy, finally bought the property in Western Avenue for £1.9m.

Julian, 53, said he was a Thunderbirds fan as a child and used to own the Sea Vixen, an aircraft that resembled Thunderbird 2, which he donated to the Royal Navy last September.

The historic plane was kept and maintained at Hurn for more than a decade and was handed over to Fly Navy Heritage Trust, which supports the Royal Navy Historic Flight.

He told the Daily Echo: “After giving away my Thunderbird plane to a good cause, it’s nice to have the Thunderbird house. I’m a big fan of the Seven brand.”

Mr Mitchell – the high-profile former chairman of AFC Bournemouth - is believed to have paid £900,000 for the land in 2000 and to have spent between £1m and £2m on building the house.

The sale comes in the same week the Daily Echo reported Mr Mitchell had been left “disappointed” after receivers seized some of the upmarket properties owned by his company Seven Developments and put them up for sale.

He insisted the company would continue trading and had never missed a payment on the mortgages involved.