Sir Peter Viggers to auction his duck house for charity
The famous duck house that has come to symbolise the MPs' expenses scandal is set to go under the hammer for charity.
Gosport MP Sir Peter Viggers broke his silence on the affair to tell The News he wants to auction off his notorious ornamental duck house for a good cause.
While the Stockholm duck house, which is almost 5ft high, would normally fetch only a couple of hundred pounds if sold second-hand, it is thought collectors may be willing to shell out thousands to snap up the piece of history.
Sir Peter is set to auction it after getting a dozen requests to donate the house, which he admitted the ducks didn't even like, to charity.
He said: 'I've replied to the dozen or so people that have enquired that my wife and I are minded, in due course, to sell the thing for charity.
'But in the present atmosphere we are letting the dust settle. We've had a lot of approaches and we aren't committing to this yet.'
The duck house cost 1,645, which Sir Peter tried to claim on expenses, but Adam Partridge, auctioneer from Flog It, Bargain Hunt and Cash in the Attic, thinks it could go for a far higher price.
'A second-hand duck house like that would normally go for about 300 to 500, but this one is a bit different,' he said.
'This is the notorious duck house and could get thousands and thousands. I've not auctioned off anything like this before; it's really tricky to say how much it could go for, but it may be a lot.
'Someone may want it so in years to come they can say "this is the famous duck house from the 2009 scandal".
'You just can't tell how high it might go if you get two people bidding who really want it.'
One of the dozen requests that Sir Peter had to donate the duck house came from Felicia Park Urban Community Farm in Gosport.
The farm in Sealark Road, Hardway, has a close relationship with Sir Peter, who opened its garden four years ago and who has been a regular visitor.
It asked for the donation after 10 eggs hatched at the end of last month leaving farm staff with a flock of little ducklings.
Sue Hitchman, founder of the farm, said: 'I didn't think we had much chance, I just wrote because there was the connection between him and the farm.
'If he was going to donate it I thought we'd be the most likely in Gosport, but I'm not too disappointed.'
DUCKING THE QUESTIONS
Sir Peter Viggers has dodged questions since his controversial expenses claims were revealed.
When the scandal broke he was away in America, after which he fled to his chateau in France. The News managed to track down Sir Peter twice last week: once at Westminster and once on his first return to his constituency office in Gosport.
On both occasions he refused to answer questions about his 30,000 gardening expenses and rejected claim for the duck island at his former Titchfield mansion.
>> Vote in our latest web poll.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
