Not many people would fly in the face of property expert Sarah Beeny's advice.

But Wanborough sisters Helene Simpkins, 29, and Paula Harris, 28, are confident that they have the know-how to win on the property market - and are pushing ahead with their plans in spite of the Property Ladder presenter's scepticism.

The sisters are being filmed for the TV show as they refurbish a pair of next-door cottages. They said goodbye to their jobs after having babies and are moving into property development full-time.

Property Ladder presenter Sarah Beeny was in Wanborough yesterday dishing out words of caution to the sisters on their ambitious plans.

But they are largely ignoring the presenter's advice and plan to carry on with their ideas regardless. They aim to restore the cottages, which have been merged into one house by a previous owner, to two separate buildings again.

Each cottage, which originally had two bedrooms, will get an additional one, but property guru Sarah strongly disagrees.

Helene said: "Sarah is being sceptical, but we know the market very well as we're from here."

The siblings, who live in Wanborough, snapped up both cottages at an auction in October for a bargain £267,000 and have put them on the market for £235,000 each.

Mother-of-one Paula said: "We bought them to make a profit as we saw the huge potential."

The Channel 4 crew filmed the progress yesterday as builders worked on the extension at the back of the cottages.

The sisters found the filming exciting, but nerve-wracking. Paula said: "I found the filming a little apprehensive as you don't know how they're going to edit it.

"It's exciting to see it unfold and have a record of it all, though."

The work on the High Street houses has to be completed by August, and the sisters are confident of success, in spite of only starting work on May 8.

Mother-of-two Helene has already acquired 21 properties and completed a refurbishment in Liden.

She had ambitions of becoming a property mogul at a young age. "I'm fanatical about property programmes and the best thing is meeting Sarah Beeny.

"As a child I used to study property brochures and learn the layout of designs off by heart."

The sisters established an interior design company - Evolved Interiors - six months ago. Former administrator Paula said: "Six months ago we had babies.

"Neither of us wanted to got back to our normal jobs.

"We needed something to fit in with our children."

She believes the development of Victoria Cottages is a major project but the sisters are not fazed. "It's a huge job - our biggest yet - but we will definitely be able to finish it on time."

Paula's husband Daryl has also quit his job at Nationwide to become a full-time plasterer and lend a hand.

The show is due to be screened on Channel 4 in the autumn.