No property prize in Ringwood Megahome raffle but woman scoops £110,000 instead

A CHRISTCHURCH woman has won over £100,000 in a prize draw after a raffle for a luxury home was scrapped because the owners failed to sell enough tickets.

Carina Alcock took the cash in the Win a Mega Home competition, put on by Mark and Sharon Beresford, after her name was drawn by local MP Sir Christopher Chope.

The couple had initially advertised their £3m contemporary Huf Haus at Ringwood as part of a prize draw – with entrants paying £25 and answering a question to be eligible.

They needed to sell 120,000 tickets for it to go ahead, but despite national publicity, the entry date being extended to the New Year and the couple throwing in a £120,000 Aston Martin supercar as second prize, they sold under 30,000 tickets.

Instead they offered a percentage of the sales – put at £110,070 – and enlisted a random number selector computer at Sterling Lottery Management, which is approved and audited by both the Gambling Commission and PwC, to select 100 of the tickets at random.

From those Sir Christopher drew the winner, a process overseen by independent solicitor Josh Taylor.

Mark (61), a business consultant, said: “When we called the winner, Carina, she was overcome and we’re so happy for her and can’t wait to present her with the money.”

Their property, called Avon Place and situated in the exclusive Avon Castle estate, is set in around an acre of private grounds and offers 7,000sq ft of open plan living.

A distinctive glass and wood property built by the German Huf Haus company, it has fishing rights, seven reception rooms, a cinema, hi-tech kitchen and a bespoke-built barbecue house.

Mark said: “It has been quite an experience and we have tried everything to sell enough tickets. We made sure everything was legal and above board and satisfied the Gambling Commission.

“Of course we’re disappointed that the house hasn’t been won as we want to move to Sussex to be near family,” he added.