A SWEDISH billionaire has set his sights on buying an entire Hampshire village.

Stefan Persson, owner of the high street fashion giant H&M, is poised to buy the Linkenholt estate, near Andover.

The second richest man in Sweden is snapping up the 2,000-acre site in the quiet village, following a bidding war.

On top of a sizeable manor house, Linkenholt includes 1,500 acres of farmland, a 425-acre wood, a cricket ground and 21 dwellings leased to villagers, some of whom have lived there since birth.

The estate has been run by a charitable trust since the 1970s after its last owner, Herbert Blagrave, an entrepreneur, died without leaving any children.

The trust put Linkenholt on the market in March.

This will be Mr Persson’s second English country estate.

The 61-year-old already owns 8,500 acres in Wiltshire, where he hosts partridge and pheasant shoots.