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A bungling man bought a disused fairground carousel for £180,000 after he claims he clicked on the button to bid by mistake.

The man claimed he accidentally clicked on the button when he went to close his browser while bidding on several items at the same time.

The ride, dating back to 1904, was among hundreds of items from the former Pleasure Island theme park in Cleethorpes being auctioned off by Prestige Auctions on Wednesday.

It received no bids from the room, but one sole bid came in from the internet just before the lot closed - prompting cheers from the audience.

Carl Vince, owner of Prestige Auctions Grimsby, described his joy at the sale of such a historic attraction, saying: “I’m so proud to be stood here today and to say I’m selling the carousel at Pleasure Island in Cleethorpes for £180,000.”

However, the bidder later claimed it was all a mistake after he was landed with a bill of around £245,000 - with various taxes and fees added on.

Mr Vince said despite the alleged error made by the bidder, he insisted that the sale is legally binding.

He told the Grimsby Telegraph: “We are having a meeting with our online bidding partner today.

“However, as far as we are concerned the carousel is sold. We are not sure how people can make such a mistake.”

Mr Vince said while he sympathised with the gentleman, who is from Lincolnshire, "the bid button is very clear, and is in the middle of the page.”

The auction house said if someone is prepared to put in a new bid on the item, it would look at cancelling the internet bid.

Despite the controversy, the two-day auction saw more than 1,200 items put up for sale and many buyers were delighted with their purchases.

The auction had attracted international interest, with buyers travelling from as far as China to bid on memorabilia and equipment from the theme park, which closed for the last time in October 2016.