£1m property draw postponed

£1m property draw postponed

Thousands of people who paid £25 for a raffle ticket in the hope of winning a five-bedroom house in Devon have been told the competition is on hold while it is checked out by the Gambling Commission.

Brian and Wendy Wilshaw launched the competition last year after their home, which sits in 9.5 acres of woodland and has its own two-acre fishing lake and four individual two-bed holiday lodges, failed to fetch its asking price of £950,000.

After setting up a website the couple sold 46,000 raffle tickets to hopeful homeowners all over the world, raising a total of £1.15m.

They had planned to draw a winner today, in front of lawyers and reporters, but this has been put on hold while the Gambling Commission establishes whether the competition breaks any laws.

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Under gambling rules the couple will have to show that the competition was not a lottery but involved some kind of skill on the part of participants.

The couple argue that by asking entrants to answer a question on coarse fishing they ensured it was not a simple game of chance.

In a report last month by Guardian Money an expert in gambling law warned the competition could be in breach of the rules.

Antoinette Jucker from law firm Pinsent Masons said at the time: "When the Gambling Act was going through parliament the clear intention was that the only legal lotteries would be those operated for good causes ... This competition is sidestepping that."

Today the Wilshaws said they were "frustrated" by the delay.

They told entrants: "We, like you, are desperately disappointed by this news, coming so close to what should have been the most exciting time in this project and the realisation of handing the keys to our dream property to the lucky winner.

"We are also devastated that, by changing the rules after the process began, the commission may decide that our dream may not be realised."

They said discussions with the Gambling Commission would continue, adding: "The worst-case scenario is that all of our entrants will be issued with a full refund if the draw does not go ahead."

guardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2008