Wedding invite auctioned

[sphill]

A man unhappy at being invited to a wedding he does not seem to approve of is venting his displeasure by trying to sell his invitation on internet auction site eBay.

The reluctant wedding guest, operating under the name "twinklydog", is keen for someone else to enjoy his friend's nuptials, which include a meal in a top-class restaurant and evening entertainment.

"I've been invited to the wedding of a mate of mine who I used to know really well until he started going out with the girl he's going to marry," twinklydog writes on eBay.

"They've stupidly invited me to their wedding, but I don't want to go."

The auction for the invite plus guest ends on Saturday and has attracted nearly 80 bids from would-be gatecrashers, with the price quickly rising to £200 ($498) from an initial listing of £20 ($49.80) and then on into the stratosphere.

By 1721 GMT, the highest bid was £10 million ($24.9 million), suggesting a re-run of the fake bids seen in an auction of the ball blasted over the bar by David Beckham in England's Euro 2004 penalty shootout defeat to Portugal.

The ball was eventually sold for 28,050 euro ($48,440).