Fury as winner of raffle for couple's £3million riverside home is told they WON'T get the house

Contestants who entered a raffle to win a £3million luxury home are furious after the prize was cut to just £110,000 after the couple running it failed to sell enough tickets.

Mark, 61, and Sharon Beresford, 57, launched the competition last year aiming to sell 250,000 £25 tickets but revealed last week they had sold just £30,000, raising £750,000.

They promised to continue the draw with a 'six-figure sum' prize up for grabs - which has now been revealed as £110,000, or 27 times less than the value of the property in Ringwood, Hampshire, won by an unnamed woman. 

In their terms and conditions, the Beresfords stated that any cash prize would be to the value to 75 per cent of the ticket sales, after promotion costs were taken out.

The couple maintain they racked up £640,000 in advertising, marketing, PR and legal costs for the competition.

But some who took part questioned about the validity of the novelty raffle.

The Beresfords' Twitter handle @WinAMegaHome has been deleted in the face of an stinging criticism from users.

Rebecca Gleaves, from Bournemouth, said: 'It might be legal but that doesn't make it okay morally.'

Richard Reddington, from London, added: 'I will never enter another competition like this again.'





MailOnline