THE Mid Devon couple at the centre of a legal wrangle with the Gambling Commission say they are "relieved" after being given the all-clear to sell their home through a raffle.

Brian and Wendy Wilshaw sold their target of 46,000, £25 tickets to win their £1m, 11-acre house and estate at Morchard Bishop in a raffle.

But the draw for Oldborough Retreat had been on hold since last autumn when the Gambling Commission launched an investigation into the legality of house raffles in general.

In a posting on their website last week, the couple announced that the Commission had confirmed it would take no further action against the couple.

Brian said: "It is a relief to find out that the draw can go ahead. We have almost got everything in place and the draw will be held in the next couple of weeks.

"It is good news for us, but also for all those people who bought tickets and kept faith with us. Ninety per cent of people have stayed with us through all this."

The couple say after all the stress of the previous eight months they are planning to keep the draw itself a very "low-key" affair.

Entries came in from all over the world through the couple's website — www.oldboroughretreat.com.

In a posting on the site last week, the Wilshaws announced: "We cannot find the words to show our appreciation for the support and loyalty that so many entrants, from so many countries around the world, have shown us. Without that moral support, we could not have fought on, and without so many of you sharing our dream, we simply would not have wanted to."

The winner of the estate, including a five-bedroom house, fishing lake and four two-bedroom holiday cottages, should have been picked on October 16.

It was postponed after a warning that it could fall foul of the Gambling Act 2005.

Schemes that do not meet a test of skill are classed as lotteries and cannot be operated for private gain.

The question to stand a chance of winning the Oldborough Fishing Retreat was: "What is the cost of an adult full-season coarse fishing licence for 2008/09?"

The dispute centred on whether the question was hard enough to prevent a "significant number" of the general population from taking part in the competition.

The couple have owned the estate since 1994 and devised the draw as a reaction to the downturn in the property market.

They say the odds of winning at 46,000 to one are much better than the odds for the lottery which is 14 million to one.