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New Top Gear presenter Chris Evans splashes out '£330,000 on new house' for the daughter he once ignored

Published: 02:58 EST, 26 June 2015 | Updated: 12:51 EST, 26 June 2015

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Chris Evans spent £330,000 last year on a brand new home for the daughter he ignored for years, it has been reported.

The BBC Radio DJ, who recently announced he was to replace Jeremy Clarkson as the face of Top Gear, is said to have purchased the property in Warrington, Cheshire, for Jade Evans, his 28-year-old daughter.

The pair were estranged for years after Jade's mother walked out on the 49-year-old when Jade was a baby.

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Reconciled: Chris Evans has reportedly bought a £330,000 home for his formerly estranged daughter Jade (seen above together in 2009)

Residents of the quiet cul-de-sac in Warrington, the presenter's hometown, told how he visited the four-bedroom property.

'Jade's a lovely girl and she seems really happy with the house,' one neighbour, who did not want to be named, told The Sun.

This afternoon the presenter said he bought the house for Jade last year.

Evans has described 'not being around enough' for his daughter when she was a baby, claiming he was too focused on his career at the time to devote enough attention to his child and her mother.

Happy families: The BBC Radio host walked Jade down the aisle in 2013 after reuniting with his firstborn

Chequered past: Evans labelled himself 'selfish' in his treatment of Alison Ward, Jade's mother and his former fiancee (left). He moved on from the pair to marry Carole McGiffin in 1991 (right)

Alison Ward, Jade's mother and the DJ's former fiancée, left him when she was still an infant.

Describing their parting in his autobiography, Evans said: 'Alison was totally selfless when it came to my ambition but I simply wasn't around enough to be supportive of her in the far more important task of bringing up a young child - in short, I was a selfish p****'.

'I came back to the house one day and Alison had had enough – she had gone back to her mum’s with the baby.

'What did I feel at the time? I’m ashamed to say relief. I saw Alison going back home as leaving me free to carry on chasing my dreams, but that’s where my head was at the time.'

The presenter and his former fiancée became embroiled in a bitter legal dispute which was resolved in 1998, when Jade was 11, with Evans agreeing to a financial settlement.

Many loves: Evans went on to marry Billie Piper in a £200 Las Vegas ceremony. The pair divorced in 2007

He had, up until then, been paying maintenance to Ward, it was reported at the time.

Evans went on to marry former Loose Women star Carole McGiffin (they divorced in 1998, four years after separating and after seven years of marriage) before tying the knot with Billie Piper in a £200 Las Vegas ceremony in 2001. They divorced in 2007.

He married his third wife, Natasha Shishmanian, the same year. The pair have two sons together.

Third time lucky: Evans married Natasha Shishmanian in 2007. The couple (above in 2012) have two children together

Chris Evans to film secret Top Gear sequence

Earlier this year Evans gushed over becoming a grandfather to Jade's son, Teddy.

Announcing the happy news to his millions of Twitter followers, he said in January: ''Teddy Rupert is here!!! Everyone doing brilliantly. Congrats to Ma & Pa, Alison and Wardy, Sandra and Gavin ! (sic)'.

MailOnline has contacted a representative for the star in relation to this article.