Beatles flat for sale

A flat once shared by the Beatles is up for sale with a price tag of £1.75 million.

The band rented the three-bedroom London property in the autumn of 1963.

They had just enjoyed a No 1 hit with She Loves You and found it impossible to stay in hotels because hordes of screaming fans would gather outside.

Manager Brian Epstein found them the top-floor flat in Green Street, Mayfair, to give them some privacy during their time in the capital.

The property holds a unique place in history because it is the only home in which all four Beatles lived together.

An early publicity photo of the Fab Four peering over a bannister, used as the cover for the December 1963 edition of The Beatles Book, was taken at the top of the communal stairwell.

The band stayed for only a few months - Paul McCartney soon moved in with then girlfriend Jane Asher's family in nearby Wimpole Street, while John Lennon rented another London property with first wife Cynthia.

George Harrison and Ringo Starr remained a while longer before moving into a flat together in Knightsbridge, in the same block as Epstein.

The Green Street property is now for sale with Sotheby's.

Estate agent Peter Bevan said: "The current owner lives in California and inherited the flat from a relative. The owner is aware of its history, but hasn't turned it into a Beatles shrine or anything like that."