A LOVESICK man is raffling his house for £2 a pop so he can move in with a mum-of-two he met on holiday - who lives a 250-mile round trip away.

Paul Nicholson, 55, met Prestatyn's Rita Evans 10 years ago whilst working in France.

Rita, 50, and Paul are looking forward to living together in her hometown of Prestatyn, North Wales.

Romantic Paul put his £335,000 house in Clowne, Derbyshire, on the market in January but it failed to sell as a result of the coronavirus lockdown.

Builder Paul, who renovated the four-bedroom property himself, is so keen to be with Rita he is raffling his house for £2 a ticket.

The property boasts a massive kitchen, family bathroom, two ensuite bathrooms, underfloor heating, a garden and full-size garage.

Paul said: "I met Rita when I was living in France.

Rhyl Journal:

Paul Nicholson is raffling his house for just £2 a ticket in order to move closer to his loving girlfriend who lives 250 miles away in Prestatyn. The four-bed property boasts a massive kitchen, brand new family bathroom, two en-suites, underfloor heating, a garden, garage and driveway. It was completely renovated by Paul, who used to fix-up barns in France where he lived with his uncle near the city of Limoges.

“Recently we got in touch and became close," said Paul.

"I started seeing her on weekends but it was a 250 mile round trip.

"We decided to move in together and live in Wales. I put my house on the market and then the coronavirus happened.

"The estate agent told me we're not selling many houses at over £200,000, it's going to be difficult.

"I thought I'll give the raffle a whirl. I took it off the market and started to start advertising the raffle.

"It'd be great if a family living in a small council house could win it for £2. I'd love that."

So far Paul has sold 15,500 tickets but needs to sell 225,000 by October 27 before the house can be raffled in order to cover his costs.

He added: "If I don't sell enough tickets, I don't sell the house.

"People have said on Facebook that I am a greedy b*****d who is trying to sell 225,000 tickets, which is £450,000 for a house that's worth £335,000.

"I could be in for an £80,000 bill at the end of all this through commissions and advertising to the raffle company, which then knocks it down.

"I don't make every single penny that I take, the raffle company take off 10 per cent of ticket revenue sales. If I go with their advertising campaign, that's another £30,000.

"At the end of the day, come October 27, if I sell 225,000 tickets, somebody gets my house."

Paul bought the house in 1995 for £62,000 and renovated the property when he returned home from spending 13 years living in France.

He said: "When I came back, I put a two-story extension on it and made it into a four-bedroom detached instead of a three-bedroom.

"I spent over £70,000 to renovate in it. Everything you can think of that can be done, has been done right down to the light switches."

To buy a ticket and be in with a chance of winning, visit www.raffall.com/prizehomederbyshire