Tickets go on sale in Dubai on Sunday for a raffle which has 31 luxury cars as prizes.

Every day during the Dubai shopping festival in March, someone will be able to win one of 27 Rolls Royce Silver Seraphs or four Bentleys.

The purchase of the Silver Seraphs, by the oil-rich sheikhdom of Dubai, gave Rolls Royce, owned by German car-makers VW, a contract worth an estimated £4.75m - its biggest single deal.

Tickets cost £34 for a car which would normally sell in the Gulf state for more than £158,000 each. The odds of winning a car are 5,000 to one.

Dubai is said to be enjoying a reputation for extravagance. It hosts the world's richest horse race, the Dubai World Cup, and is home to the world's first seven-star hotel, the Burj Al Arab.

The luxury car raffle is part of Dubai's drive to promote itself as a destination for tourists.

Traditionally Dubai is the trade centre for the Middle East and it has become home to many shopping centres and markets.

Gambling ban

Gambling is illegal in the Islamic country and raffles are the only tolerated form of betting.

This is not the first giveaway - the raffles have been going on since 1996.

Last year the winner of the biggest car prize could not drive.