Couple who raffled their £600k Northampton house for a fiver hand out cash prize to the winner instead

Marty Pumbien and his partner Annie launched a national drive to give their home in Abington Park Crescent to one lucky winner in April.

The winner would have been handed the keys to the four-bed Victorian property mortgage-free.

But after selling 16,000 tickets, Marty and Annie announced last week that they did not raise enough to sell their house.

Instead, they offered to present the raffle winner with a £35,000 cash prize and £34,000 to dementia research.

"Thanks again to everyone who took part and helped to spread the word," the couple said in a statement on their 'Winahouse' Facebook page.

"Watch this space, there may be an announcement soon after the draw."

Shortly afterwards, on October 16, the couple announced the winner was Kyle Thompson, who, they said would now have more than enough for a deposit on his own home.

"He is (obviously) over the moon," they said.

"Although it's not the house its a very nice cash prize."

The couple will also be giving nearly £34,000 to the University of Northampton for use in their dementia research and UnityDem programmes.