THE gavel dropped and 26 years of memories had taken little more than five minutes to sell.

But following the hottest lot of a packed property auction, eccentric Richard Checksfield saw his isolated bungalow - with no electricity - snapped up for £170,000.

The Dunnington 71-year-old has decided to abandon his 18th Century existence at South Lodge, near Dunnington Hall, and retire to Malta.

Last night, he sold his home at the first York property auction held by Hunters Estate Agents at the Le Meridien Hotel,

York.

The last of eight lots, competition was fierce to land the bungalow, which had a guide price of £120,000. The reserve price was £145,000.

From the moment the auction for the house began, a bidding war opened up between two parties who drove up the price.

When auctioneer Charles Smailes banged his gavel for the final time and the house was sold, Mr Checksfield was typically non-plussed.

The property was bought by the daughter of York author Derek Boorman, who owns the nearby Dunnington Hall. She declined to give her name but said she was pleased to secure the property, which had been bought as part of a joint bid.

She said she was not so pleased with the renovation job which now awaited her.

Mr Checksfield said: "I have never done anything like this before. £171,000 will have to do won't it?

"My emotions are a little mixed about leaving the house, but I won't miss it that much. I don't know what I will spend the money on. I haven't got it yet!"

The buyer said: "It was sold in 1976. Hopefully, it will be a nice house when it is finished. There were loads of people that came to view it. At one stage, I didn't know whether I was going to get it or not. I was relieved to do so."

Mr Boorman said: "I am pleased that my daughter has bought it. I would have been happy if someone else had got it, as long as they were nice."

Hunters director John Waterhouse, who organised the auction, said: "We did expect the house to reach that price. The auction overall was a total success and the interest in it was fantastic.

"More than 200 people turned up and we are already looking forward to the next one in July."

Updated: 11:16 Thursday, April 17, 2003