ANGRY punter Ken Lau has hit out at the contest to "raffle" a house.

The Abingdon engineer labelled the competition a "fiasco" after the rules were redrawn when not enough people entered.

Originally, hopeful entrants had to pay out £105 in a bid to win Belmor House, in Woodstock Road, Oxford.

But now the entry fee has been slashed to just £10 - and punters are being warned their tenners will not be refunded even if the competition again fails to take place.

Organisers insist the contest must raise well above £600,000 to go ahead. In theory they could find themselves with more than £500,000 from hopeful entrants and never have to hold a competition.

Mr Lau, 36, of Baker Road, Abingdon, is still waiting for his original £105 entry fee to be returned.

He said: "I just don't know what is going on. The whole thing seems to be a shambles.

"I sent my entry in before Christmas but I've heard nothing.

Now they are talking about having to get 60,000 entries." To win 182 Woodstock Road, a 13-room, five bathroom Edwardian house, punters must send in £10 and describe why they want the house in 50 to 75 words.

But punters are warned:

The £10 is not refundable.

To go ahead the competition must raise enough to cover the value of the house and mounting legal and advertising costs.

Organisers are not able specify the number of entries required to allow the contest to go ahead. But it is thought to be between 65,000 and 70,000.

The competition is marketed as a game of skill to comply with the law.

But Oxford property consultant Harry St John, of Oxford property consultants Cluttons, believes it faces a bigger credibility crisis than the National Lottery.

said:"This is quite extraordinary. Odds of 65,000 to one do not look very good. It is getting a bit like a lottery. But at least in the lottery you pay your quid and you know a draw is going to take place."

Organisers say that if the contest does not go ahead the cash will be given to charity.

Grace Trehan, who lives in the house and set up the competition, said: "I am confident that enough people will be keen to invest just £10 in return for a chance of winning a £600,000 house and the charities can't lose."

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