ESTATE agents don't perhaps enjoy the best of reputations.

But there are two quasi members of the profession in Hampshire who devote all their time to bringing joy and enjoyment into children's lives.

In an age when parents rely on high-tech entertainment to keep their youngsters amused for hours on end, you might think youthful imagination a thing of the past.

Yet dolls' house estate agents, Joy Plummer and Hazel Horsfield, are finding there is plenty of interest in the tiny homes they sell.

Hidden away behind Shirley High Street is their shop, piled high with diminutive exhibits.

It's a treasure trove of miniature life.

Some of the homes they sell are already built. Others come in kits.

A fully decorated six bedroomed dolls' house with lighting - which has more than a passing resemblance to a Mayfair mansion - will set you back £650.

Inside the smartly painted wooden walls is everything a doll could ever want for a life of luxury.

And there doesn't seem to be anything you find in the average family home which cannot be downsized to the scale of dolls.

There are wine bottles, house plants, slippers, telephones, toothpaste, candles, chairs, food, cats. Even mini newspapers are on display (How very tasteful - the Ed).

The items do have to be picked up with care.

It might be an idea to browse with the aid of a pair of tweezers - never before has a Daily Echo photographer been observed behaving in such a delicate manner.

Sisters Joy and Hazel, who were brought up in Portswood, pretend to bicker and vye for attention as they are interviewed.

"Oh look at her hogging the limelight," scoffs Joy, light-heartedly, as Hazel, 60, from Shirley, is photographed.

Joy, who lives in Woolston, puts the motivation for opening Oakley Crafts six months ago down to "pure boredom".

Since then, it's gone from strength to strength.

"I was so bored because I love working," says Joy. "I used to commute to London. But once you say you're 65, people think you are an old dodderer.

"It's a big girls' toy shop. You have to look at everything with little eyes - it's a silly world.

"I used to have a doll's house shop in London.

"Our father made a doll's house out of orange boxes nailed together. We used to spend hours making matchbox furniture.

"It's very satisfying when I do make things and they turn out alright.

"The sliced gammon looks as though you could eat it - it's so well done.

"In London I had one customer who bought a six-room house and she had one room for each of her six grandchildren."