A YORK man's ambitious plan to raffle his home off to first time buyers today lies in tatters after the council told him the sell-off was illegal.

Mick Waddington came up with the novel idea of selling his house in Penyghent Avenue, Burnholme, to help young buyers get on the property ladder.

The Evening Press reported last week how raffle tickets would be £1,000 each, only 250 would be sold and all money would be held by Mick's solicitor until the lucky winner was picked.

But City of York Council have derailed Mick's plans to raffle the lovingly renovated three-bedroom home, which has been valued at £190,000.

After reading our article officials sent a letter telling him the raffle was illegal under the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976.

Now Mick, 54, has decided to call the raffle off - but will be speaking to his lawyer to try and find a way forward. No money has been collected, he said, but there has been a lot of interest.

He said: "I had no idea about this. I was so disappointed when I received the letter because of the response I've had."

Mr Waddington's concerns about young people affording property sparked the idea to raffle his "beautiful" home to first-time buyers.

The council's letter to Mr Waddington states that the raffle breaks the law on seven counts. Two breaches are that the total value of tickets sold should not exceed £20,000 and no ticket should be sold for more than £2.

Dick Haswell, head of regulation at City of York Council, said: "You can't have a lottery for private gain. You can only have a lottery for charitable purposes.

"If there's a way to get around it I don't know what it is."

Updated: 10:35 Thursday, August 05, 2004