THE brother of Saints hooker Keiron Cunningham is warning townsfolk to be on their guard over what can look like bargain buys at special auctions.

Steve Cunningham (39) who lives in Nutgrove, with his wife Paula (36) and two children Amy (14) and Beth (10), paid out £400 through his switch card for what he thought were four watches made for BMW.

But when he opened the box later, Steve was horrified to find just two watches with a total value believed to be little more than £100.

Steve who works as a kitchen fitter for K&S Kitchen Designs told the Star: "You never got to see the items that were being talked about.

"I was looking for a nice Christmas present for my mother and father-in-law, Kath and Tony Barrow."

Now Steve has told the auction company that he does not want the watches... but he has come up with a rather novel solution to his situation... "If they are prepared to refund my money then I am happy to donate the £400 or a 28 inch TV with stand and video which is one of the items they have offered me as an alternative to Willowbrook Hospice on behalf of K&S Kitchen Designs."

Councillor Terry Shields, Portfolio holder for Environmental Protection, said: "The traders who run these kinds of 'auctions' know exactly what they are doing.

"They manage to raise people's expectations of what they will get for their money, without actually saying what that is.

"Trading Standards advice to anyone seeing an advert for an auction of this type, promising very cheap goods, is to be wary and if they do want to attend one, just watch what happens before parting with any money. Remember, if any bargain looks too good to be true, it usually is!"

l Despite repeated requests, the auction companyhas not provided a response