HOUSE for sale: no mod cons, no hot water, no electricity! Eccentric electrician Richard Checksfield who has gone without power at his York home for the last 28 years, has decided to auction the property in favour of a more comfortable lifestyle.

The Evening Press previously reported that the 70-year-old, who has been an electrician for 55 years, lives an 18th century-like existence in an isolated bungalow at Eastfield Lane, Dunnington.

He chooses to read by candlelight, keep warm beside a large coal fire and wash in cold rainwater. But Richard is now planning to move to Malta after his family encouraged him to leave his sparse existence. "I knew I couldn't live like this forever," he told the Evening Press. "I've got my health to think about. I will really miss the people in the village and the views.

"I've always been a bit of a hillbilly and rebel at heart. I like people on my own terms not theirs."

Richard said he hoped to live in a secluded farmhouse in Malta, which has electricity and hot water. His three-bedroom cottage will go under the hammer along with other properties at an auction on April 16, at Le Meridien Hotel, York, organised by York-based Hunters Estate Agents.

It is estimated that the bungalow and associated land of about a third of an acre, will fetch more than £120,000.

The property is within a conservation area and needs complete renovation.

Richard, a passionate nature lover, has not dusted the house for 20 years so he does not disturb the spiders. It is filled with an assortment of junk including, hundreds of nuts and bolts and years' worth of empty wine bottles. The garden is completely overgrown and has a former lifeboat nestled in the brambles.

Jon Wright, of Hunters Estate Agents, said there would be "phenomenal" interest for the cottage. "In all my years as an estate agent I've never seen anything like it," he said. "It's a throwback from a bygone era. The cottage needs total renovation and would be ideal for a developer to get hold of."

He said if the property was in good condition and had all the mod cons, it could fetch up to £270,000.

Updated: 10:28 Thursday, March 13, 2003