A couple who swapped the jammed streets of Kent for a historic French château says they've found a community they lacked in the UK.

Heidi and Anthony Muir had grown increasingly annoyed with the constant queues of cars blocking the roads near their home every weekend.

So, around three years ago, they sold their £600,000 four-bedroom semi in the village of Allington, near Maidstone, and swapped it for a grand French château and its surrounding grounds at nearly half the price.

The £370,000 nine-bedroom estate in central France - that served as a French Resistance headquarters during World War Two - has featured three times on Channel 4 show Grand Designs.

Heidi, 57, and her 55-year-old husband Anthony also took on the running of the bed and breakfast business at the late 19th-century château, called Chez Jallot.

And though the couple, who have three grown-up children together, say they sometimes miss the conveniences a less-rural life offers, they have 'no regrets' about their move and would even encourage others to do the same.

Now, nearly three years into their adventure, Mrs Muir explained that she still has to pinch herself to convince herself her dream of living in France has really come true.

"It has gone really, really well," she said. "We're getting over 300 guests a year. Last year we had 359 guests from all over the world and we have 172 guests booked in already this year. "

"We're pretty much fully booked for August and July. It has taken us by surprise how well everything has gone."

"It was always a bit of a hopeful wish to live in France, and never in a million years did we think we would actually end up living here."

"We've been here three years in June and we still pinch ourselves... We never would have dreamed we would be in this position. "

"We have had so many guests and they have all been lovely. We don't have any regrets whatsoever. We absolutely love living here."

The Muirs made the move across the Channel in 2022 after growing tired of gridlocked traffic in Kent, with more houses being erected around them all the time.

"We had always lived in Kent," Mrs Muir continued. "Anthony comes from Walderslade and I came from Stockbury. We'd lived in our house in Allington for almost 30 years. "

"It was actually my grandmother's from the late 1930s, so the house was always in our family, but we decided to make the move to France. "

"We were looking for a holiday home, really, but decided to broaden our search and started looking at forever homes."

"We remembered watching Chez Jallot on Grand Designs in 2004 and really admired former owners Doug and Deni Ibbs."

"We love Maidstone, we loved our house, we really did like the area and the kids had a great time at school and everything."

"But what made our decision was the developments that were starting around the Allington area – the roads just couldn't cope."

Heidi explained that 'thousands' of new homes were being built in the area, exacerbating the problem of traffic on local roads.

She said: "The main London Road going into Maidstone was gridlocked most weekends, so this was one of the main factors of why we just wanted to change our lifestyle a little bit."

"There are thousands of new houses being built in the area - not hundreds but thousands. "

"Roads are already congested and, in the coming years, they will only get worse."

Mrs Muir added that living at Chez Jallot has made her appreciate how tightly-knit more rural communities like hers can be.

She says their previous home in Maidstone had lacked a similar sense of community.

"This is one of the least populated areas of France," she said. "

"It's really beautiful and quiet. It's a lot more relaxed and very peaceful. "

"Things do take much longer to do - food shopping and stuff. You have to be more organised. "

"We are 30km from the nearest big towns. "

"When you go back to London you realise everything is just a finger click away. "

"That convenience is not here, but you get used to it. "

"It's important to get involved with the village and the locals: talk to neighbours and help them out. "

"There's a real neighbourhood community here where everybody helps each other. "

"In England, for us, that's what was missing. "

"Our town was getting bigger and bigger and houses were being built everywhere; you live in your own little bubbles. "

"Here, you talk to your neighbours more."

The Muirs try to return to British shores at least twice a year, though - admitting they still miss cheddar cheese and the vast choice of restaurants in London.

The couple's children - 28-year-old Bronwyn, 25-year-old Ewan and Toby, 24 - all regularly visit their parents in central France from London, where they all now live, with Limoges Airport just an hour-and-a-half drive away.

The Muirs are also supported in running the chateau by their Shitzus Poppy and Coco.

Back in 2022, the Muirs sold their four-bedroom, two-bathroom, semi-detached home in Allington for £600,000 and bought the far larger château and B&B business in the central French Nouvelle-Aquitaine region for £370,000.

The distinctly French manor house boasts five bedrooms - each with a private en suite - and two adjoining gites with two more bedrooms apiece as well as a living area and kitchen.

The two pet-friendly, self-accommodating gites are available for a maximum of four people each for €120 (£88) per night, and suites in the chateau range from €95 (£83) to €160 (£132) per person.

The château has been featured three times on Channel 4 home-improvement show Grand Designs and was originally constructed around the year 1870, after Monsieur Jallot returned to the country from Paris, where he had been part of the reconstruction of the capital under President Napoleon III.

During the Nazi occupation of France in the Second World War, when France was initially split into the northern occupied territory and the southern free territory, Chez Jallot sat close to the dividing borderline.

It served as a headquarters for French Resistance forces, who trained volunteers at the château and harboured parachutists, aircrew and escapees - with up to 70 people living on the property at one time.

In July 1944, Nazi troops searched the property and set it ablaze.

The main building was left derelict for more than 70 years before English couple Doug and Deni Ibbs bought the property in 2004 and built it up from the remaining shell of the house.

Mrs Muir added: "It was just four walls because the house was burnt down in the war by the Nazis."

"When the Ibbs bought the house as a complete derelict shell they did it up."

"So we've been very lucky that we've not had to do all that hard work that was already done all for us."

Mrs Muir, who was made redundant from her management job in 2021, and her avid cyclist husband, who left his job at the multi-sport activity venue Cyclopark in Gravesend, Kent, now share the running of their B&B business.

They've been told that their business is so successful that they don't have to renew their visas until 2028.

Mrs Muir said the Grand Designs episodes brought in guests from all over the world who had seen the château on TV and dreamt of their own French escape.

"The lifestyle over here in France is very different to the UK," she admitted. "

"The French have a lunch break from midday to two pm every single day; so that's difficult to get used to."

"And despite the impressive selection of cheese in France, we do often miss a chunk of cheddar."

"Also everything's closed on a Sunday so it's like going back to those old-fashioned times."

"But once we stepped foot in this house, we instantly knew it was the house that we wanted."

"It's just so peaceful and quiet out here. It's very well known for walking holidays. It was a life-changing move that we do not regret."

"However, I would say to anyone thinking of doing what we did to definitely do your homework."

"Make sure you visit lots and lots of houses because there are a lot of hidden things you don't think about."

"If you want a different lifestyle then I would encourage anybody to make the leap."

Those interested in Chez Jallot can visit: https://www.chezjallot.com/