Simon Jobson and Kirsty Carrot stunned as land sale to fund dream wedding fetches £44,000

A COUPLE are set to have the wedding of their dreams after a plot of land sold for almost four times its estimate.

Stunned couple Simon Jobson and Kirsty Carrott said they have been left in a "state of shock" after the patch of grassland in South Willingham fetched £44,000 when it went under the hammer at a county property auction.

Simon Jobson and Kirsty Carrot.

Now, they are planning to use £10,000 of the cash to finance the wedding and honeymoon of a lifetime. The remaining £25,000, after fees and settling some small debts, will go towards a new house.

Kingsmill driver Simon, 35, who inherited the land when his father died 18 months ago, said his heart was in his throat during the auction.

Simon, who is planning to tie the knot with his fiancee in about 18 months, said: "No one was interested when the auctioneer started the sale at £12,000, so I thought it wouldn't sell.

"The price was dropped to £10,000, and then £8,000 before any bids began. But then it just kept going up and up.

"When the hammer finally came down and I saw it had sold for £44,000, I was too stunned to speak.

"We haven't made firm plans for the wedding yet, but we've been able to pick out some venues that we might not have been able to look at before."

Mr Jobson looked into development opportunities, but was advised the area would not be suitable.

Initial thoughts were that the site would fetch between £10,000 and £15,000.

"It's been a bit like winning the lottery to get this amount of money," said Simon, who lives in Carlton Boulevard, Lincoln, with his fiancee.

Ecstatic Kirsty, 26, said it has opened up possibilities for the wedding.

She said: "The money means we can start looking at places like the Maldives for our honeymoon, which was not an option for us before.

"I'm over the moon about the whole thing."

Rob Ward, partner at the estate agents, said it was a tense auction.

He said: "This proves the value of selling property at auction.

"The bidding became frantic, resulting in a wonderful result for Simon and Kirsty. It's a very heartwarming story that they can now have the wedding of their dreams and buy a house."