A man from St Ive was arrested after people complained over a raffle to win a £400,000 house, police said this week. David Roberts, 48, was detained on suspicion of deception and bailed to report back to Charles Cross police station in Plymouth on October 28. The aircraft structural engineer had told reporters he came up with the raffle idea after struggling to sell his five-bedroom detached home near Liskeard. He said people could win the house by buying one of 800 raffle tickets at £500 each. It is understood 20 tickets were sold, raising about £10,000, but the property was repossessed days before the planned draw last Friday. A police spokesman said: 'Following complaints regarding a house being offered as a prize in a lottery at Liskeard, officers from Devon and Cornwall Constabulary arrested a 48-year-old-man on suspicion of deception.' Doris Walker, a 60-year-old widow from Plymouth, was among the ticket holders, and said she was promised a refund was in the post. She said: 'He called me on Tuesday and said he was sorry, the house had been repossessed and he had to call off the raffle.'

'I got my money back' Businessman gets full £1,000 refund

A BUSINESSMAN told this week how he had received a full refund after buying two £500 tickets for the ill-fated house raffle. Greengrocer Andrew Beddoe, who runs Arcade Fruits on Fore Street, Liskeard, bought the tickets to win the four-bedroom house in St Ive, but pulled out a couple of weeks before the raffle collapsed when the house was repossessed. 'I was one of the first to buy the tickets,' said Mr Beddoe, 'But I'm relieved I've got my money back now.' The raffle was the idea of 48-year-old David Roberts, who used the raffle as a novel way of selling his 'dream home', after several frustrating months on the housing market produced little interest in the property. Mr Roberts valued his home at £400,000, and hoped to sell 800 tickets. However, he only managed to sell around 20 of these, and on the day that the draw took place ticket holders were stunned to find that the house had a 'for sale' sign in the garden, and Mr Roberts had not been seen.

Dreams Mr Beddoe had received a full refund before the raffle collapsed and was glad not to be involved, although he did have dreams of winning the house. 'I thought I had a chance of winning,' he said. 'So I went round and saw the house. Mr Roberts explained all the rules and how many tickets he wanted to sell, so I bought two tickets.' But Mr Roberts wasn't selling enough tickets, so he contacted Mr Beddoe again to say he had halved the price. 'He (Roberts) said I could have half my money back or four tickets, so I had four – greed came rushing! 'But as time went on I heard that ticket sales were really low, so I phoned him up and asked for my money back. There were no problems, I got my cheque back and everything has gone through.' Mr Beddoe is confident that out-of-pocket ticket holders will also get a refund. 'I think they will have their money back,' he said. 'He seemed like a genuine bloke to me.' The house is now back on the market with Miller Countrywide at a much lower price of £274,950. Agents have confirmed that there has been 'a lot of interest' shown in the property this week.