And finally…£600,000 Scottish mansion to be raffled

The owners of a seven-bedroom £625,000 mansion near Cumbernauld in North Lanarkshire are to raffle it at £5-a-ticket.

The novel approach has been taken after Dullatur House, which comes with a swimming pool and an acre of land, was on the market for several months at offers over £825,000.

More than 6000 tickets have been sold since the site for the venture went live at 7pm on last night.

It aims to sell 250,000 tickets at £5 to cover the sale of the house, including fees.

The property was used as a family home and as rented accommodation, appearing on websites including AirBnB.

Owner Shamus Fitzsimmons said after failing to secure a sale in the traditional way, and with a change in personal circumstances, he decided to try something else.

He said: “It was only a couple of weeks ago we came up with the idea. Hopefully, it will do something quite special for someone.

“The previous Friday the company I worked for, having left my previous job to go to them four months ago, decided to pull the plug.

“The house is a pride and joy but desperate times call for desperate measures. A guy down south did something similar and he’s been quite successful.

“It’s a special place, so hopefully we can pass it onto someone to walk straight into and just think, ‘Wow’.”

He also revealed the house would remain fully furnished for the new owners, with contents valued at an estimated £30,000-£40,000.

The country mansion can sleep 14 guests and has a number of lounges, while its west wing features a sauna, billiards room and double en-suite bedroom.

As well as area of land in front of the house, there is a heated swimming pool at the back.

The closing date for the raffle is December 18 and the winner will be contacted shortly after.