Reverend Mike Hall, from Luton, had been alerted by neighbours to explain that it appeared someone was in his home and that all the lights were on.

Mr Hall, who had been away from the property on work in Wales, departed for home the following morning to find that building work had commenced on his property and a new owner had allegedly bought his house.

Upon arrival at the house, Mr Hall was unable to enter as the locks had been changed. When a man opened the door to explain he was doing building work, Mr Hall reportedly replied: “I haven’t sold the house. This is still my property.”

While Hall spoke to police on the phone, the builder left the property only to return with the new owner’s father, who said the home had been purchased in July just gone.

A BBC investigation subsequently uncovered that Mr Hall’s identity had been stolen and in turn used to sell the house and keep the proceeds from the sale. Although initially told the incident was not fraud, police have now said they are investigating the situation.

“I went to the front door, tried my key in the front door, it didn’t work and a man opened the front door to me,” Mr Hall told BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours.

“I pushed him to one side and got in the property. I really didn’t know what he was doing there. The shock of seeing the house completely stripped of furniture; all furnishings, carpet, curtains, everything, was out of the property.

“I was shocked, having seen the house in the state it was, I was in a bit of a state of shock anyway but then to be told by the police they didn’t believe a criminal offence had been committed here was just unbelievable.”