RUMOURS are rife that movie star Johnny Depp is moving to a Suffolk village.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star is said to be eyeing a property in picturesque Rougham, near Bury St Edmunds.

Brenda Beeton, vice-chairman of Rushbrooke with Rougham Parish Council, said: “Rumours are flying fast and furious that he’s coming to Rougham.

“I’ve heard his children might have been registered in the village school.”

Whispers in the village suggest the actor, who has two children with French actress and singer Vanessa Paradis, has been spotted in the nearby Fox and Hounds pub in Thurston.

But landlady Mandy Ruffles said the Hollywood hunk had not put in an appearance.

“He hasn’t been in but I would fall off my bar stool if he did,” she said.

David Thornton, the Rougham postmaster, said the actor had reportedly been seen driving a white van through the village recently.

“I have heard he was renovating a house opposite the sports hall,” he said. “There are so many rumours about him around here.

“If he moved to the village, he would be very welcome.”

Builders are currently renovating a large house just outside the leafy village centre.

Shielded from public view by hedges, it would be the perfect spot for a rural hideaway for the Alice in Wonderland star.

Mark Tobin, landlord of the Bennet Arms pub in Rougham, said he had also heard Mr Depp, 47, had put in an offer on a house in the village.

“We have heard he’s moving to the village from people coming in the pub,” he said. “He hasn’t been in but if he did, I would certainly give him a pint.

“He probably wants to get out of the way and I’m sure he might leave his full-time house and buy around here.

“He has got children and he might want to get them established in a Suffolk school.”

Although locals were staying tight lipped about their possible new A-list neighbour, Mr Tobin said he could understand why the actor, who also has homes in France, Los Angeles and an island in the Bahamas, would choose to make Suffolk his new home.

“It is a lovely countryside around here,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how much money you have got, you won’t beat the area for it’s quality of life.

“I would pick Suffolk any day.“

jo.thewlis@eadt.co.uk