A young Scottish entrepreneur has put 50 Scottish web addresses up for sale in an attempt to cash in on the hype surrounding the internet.

Steven McColl, who has spent the last two years registering addresses like www.scottish-jobs.com and www.scottish-business.com, hopes to raise more than £200,000 from the portfolio of names.

The list includes topics like hotels, health, universities, property, farming and pubs.

'Tremendous interest'

Mr McColl, 24, said he was selling the portfolio to concentrate on running his eParliament website.

"There has been a tremendous amount of interest in the names from all over corporate Scotland, with private investors, advisers and the media all coming forward."

He added: "It is probably too early to say who will make official offers or how much the names are valued at, but I am confident with this much interest that our early estimates could prove conservative."

Megan McGregor of Anderson Strathern Solicitors, who is advising on the sale, said: "The dot com names are the international indicator.

High-profile names

"It is a bit like having the word plc after your name. It tends to suggest to the public that you have been in business for quite a long time, and also that you have an international reputation."

Some high-profile domain names, which can be registered by anyone willing to pay the registration fee, have sold for millions of dollars in the USA.

However, a $10m bid last month for the name year2000.com was exposed as a hoax.