Theatre box's £250,000 price tag

Almost all the Hall's performances will be seen by the buyer

A box at the Royal Albert Hall is up for sale with a price tag of £250,000.

Box 70 at the concert hall in Kensington is for sale with a lease which lasts 863 years.

The box in the second tier contains five seats and there is access to nearly all the performances at the hall included in the price.

Boxes at the Royal Albert Hall rarely come up for sale, and the box is being marketed by estate agents as the "ultimate experience".

People don't recognise the fact that the hall is not funded by government...it's the members who have made it possible David Elliott Royal Albert Hall

Tim Ridges, of Harrods Estates which is handling the sale, said: "You have to witness everything from coming in through the front door, walking down the long corridors on the second tier, to standing in front of the wood panel doorways as you come in.

"You are very much sampling the whole atmosphere of the hall as well as coming in and seeing the five seats for themselves."

The name of the successful buyer will be announced later this week.

Seats were first sold to finance the hall's construction in 1871.

The hall's chief executive David Elliott said income from boxes, or "members" as they are called, is just as important today.

"Contributions"

"People don't recognise the fact that the hall is not funded by government, we don't get funding from the local authority or anybody else, we are entirely self sufficient financially and it's the members who have made it possible.

"They make a contribution each year to the running costs of the building and frankly, but for them, the hall probably wouldn't be standing today.

"It's their contributions which have kept the rain out and kept the hall standing all these years."

In addition to the £250,000, the purchaser will have to pay an annual service charge on each of the five seats.

Offers have already been made from potential buyers in Europe and North America.