The stunning family home in East Hamlet, Ludlow.

How can you turn £25 into £300,000? Simple, enter a competition to win a four-bedroom family home in south Shropshire.

Nicola Bibby has spent the last eight years lovingly restoring an old chapel in East Hamlet, Ludlow.

She has turned it into a stunning family home but, like many others who are struggling to cope with the credit crunch, Nicola has been unable to sell her house for the past year.

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After lying awake at night, fretting, she heard of a man in Australia who decided to auction his entire “life”.

Nicola, 49, said: “My daughter goes to school outside Ludlow and we are racking up the driving. With the rising cost of petrol, the time and effects on the environment we need to move.

“But we can’t sell the house. I think it could be because it doesn’t have a garden and is putting people off. But my daughter and our two cats and I have lived here very happily.

Nicola must sell 12,000 tickets to be able to give the house away free of mortgage and stamp duty.

She is working with lawyers to make sure the competition clears all legal hurdles.

“If I don’t sell enough tickets, I won’t be able to offer the house as the prize, but every time I sell a ticket, it’s banked and the winner will receive the majority of that prize fund,” she said.

The house dates back to 1890 and was originally used by the Primitive Methodists.

Trading Standards experts say anyone thinking of undertaking a similar project should consult their council’s licensing department and inform the National Gaming Board.

For more details and to enter go to www.winaludlowchapel.co.uk

By Catherine Roche and Sophie Bignall