OUTRAGED house hunter Colin Dwyer and his partner Margaret Rees are furious after claiming they were gazumped just days before exchanging contracts on the home of Arsenal footballer Nigel Winterburn.

The couple said Nigel agreed to sell his house in Deer Park Walk, Chesham, through Hamptons International for £375,000 on March 9. Days before exchange the couple discovered Nigel had accepted an offer £15,000 higher than theirs. Colin said the episode had cost them more than £1,500 in survey and legal fees.

He and his partner Margaret had set their heart on the five-bedroomed house and agreed to match the increased offer, but were told contracts had been exchanged with rival buyers.

Colin said: "You can imagine we were absolutely horrified when we found what had happened."

He said the news broke when his sister was terminally ill.

He said: "My sister has since died and as you can imagine it has added to our distress.

"When I found out he had accepted a rival bid after all, I went round to see him. He said he had checked the situation with his solicitors and had been told that he was legally covered."

Hamptons were unaware Nigel had accepted a higher offer from a buyer who viewed the house through a rival agent.

Its regional director Roger Pollard said: "We do everything we can to discourage gazumping. However, as the law stands, estate agents are duty bound to pass on all offers to the client."

Nigel's solicitor Lawrence Brass said: "I don't think he acted improperly. He issued a contract to Mr Dwyer and Mrs Rees on the basis that they would exchange in two weeks. They took five weeks and on the fifth week another contract was issued."

Colin denied there was an agreement to exchange within two weeks.

Nigel was unavailable for comment.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.