Ref. 71870-54THE summer sales may be drawing to a close but Lorraine Gunther reckons she has an amazing bargain.

While 99p might stretch to an ice-cream, a sausage roll or even toiletries in a pound shop, Lorraine is offering to sell her beloved Ford Escort at that price.

She has advertised the red hatchback on the Internet auction site e-bay but claims the extremely low price does not reflect the car's real value.

In fact, Lorraine has a cunning plan.

She thinks that the starting price will catch people's attention and encourage them to bid while she only has to pay minimal advertising fees.

"It's going for 99p. You can't get a better deal than that," she said.

"I doubt that many people advertise a car for that price. It's just a way of getting it noticed and so far it has worked.

"Also, the higher the value you place on the item you are selling, the more expensive the advertising fees are on e-bay.

"You get a really wide range of people looking on internet sites so I thought this was the best way to sell it.

"You get national coverage.

"The advert said it was in the Swindon area so people know they don't have too far to go if they want to come and have a look."

Lorraine, of Weirside Avenue, Wrougton, has owned the car for two years and is confident the bids will come pouring in as the closing date of August 27 approaches.

"It's up to £1.25 at the moment but with most auctions the offers come in two or three days before the end.

"I'll be happy with a fair price.

"I know someone who did something similar and the car eventually sold for £700.

"I have sold about 10 items on e-bay, trying to clear out some space."

Sian Crowley from Swindon Automobiles car dealers said: "It's got one month MOT, it's legal to drive. I'd say at 99p was a bargain.

"But to be honest it hasn't got a market value if you wanted to sell it through a dealer."

What you get for your money

Manufacturer: Ford

Model: Escort

Type: Hatchback, three-door, manual

Mileage: 95,001

Registration: K Reg, 1993

MOT: One month remaining

Road Tax: One month remaining

Checkpoints for on-line bids

PEOPLE should follow certain precautions when bidding on on-line auctions.

Often bargains that seem too good to be true probably are.

But Swindon Trading Standards Team has issued a set of guidelines after the Evening Advertiser featured the story of Emma Bramford who hoped to take her daughter Imogen to see Blue at Wembley Arena and meet the band afterwards.

She sent a £650 cheque to a seller on e-bay but never received the concert tickets.

To prevent this happening, stick to the following advice:

Check the sellers reputation in feedback from other customers

Establish whether there is a returns policy

Find out what form of payment the seller is willing to accept. If it is a cheque or money orders only, this can be risky. A secure online payment is better.

Read and understand all terms and conditions. Contact the seller for clarification before buying or bidding if necessary.

tamash Lal