And finally…Dundee home buyers camp out in cars to reserve prime plots

Despite the fact that none of the homes on the ‘Western Gateway’ site have actually been built yet, the local Courier newspaper has reported that people of all ages have taking the desperate measure to ensure they don’t miss out.

The site is just to the north of the roundabout passed through by those entering the city by road from the west and known locally as the ‘Swallow Circle’, after the long established hotel nearby.

The desirable western part of the ‘City of Discovery’ is just minutes from the city centre and as work gets underway on the 94 home project, the most determined buyers began appearing at 4pm on Friday anxious to secure the first of the new homes when as they went on sale shortly before 10am the next morning.

The rush was made all the more frantic as only 12 houses were available for sale as part of the site’s first release.

First in line was a young woman who was taking it in shifts with her mother to guard their berth.

She was joined shortly after by other determined souls and several more spent the night in their cars.

One group was a young family looking to buy their first family home.

They stayed on site from 7pm and said at least seven other groups of homebuyers had spent the night with them.

The most popular house, the three bedroom Huntly, was the favourite among those queuing, although there are only four such homes in phase one, two of them in the first 12 due to be built by the end of this year.

Tricia Malek, sales director at homes developer Springfield, said they had seen overwhelming demand and were grateful for people’s interest in the development.

She said: “Many people slept in their cars, which can’t have been comfortable.”

By the end of the weekend, Springfield had taken five reservations for the first batch of houses and nine earlybird reservations for other homes in phase one. A total of 104 people visited the sales site.

The company also arranged for The Picnic Basket catering van from the Dundee Technology Park to serve free hot food and drinks.