Warning over bucket auction

The water is being sold to raise funds for Oxfam

Bidders on internet auction site eBay are being warned they could face legal action - after offers of £1m were posted for a bucket of water.

The seller invited bids for the brimming plastic pail to raise money for Oxfam.

Owners of the eBay site closed the sale on Thursday morning because they thought it had been placed as a joke.

However, after re-posting the item, they also issued a warning to bidders when the price soared to £1m.

eBay insisted that offers were legally binding and could lead to bidders being sued if they failed to pay up.

Money raised from the sale is going to Oxfam in Sudan.

Sam Barratt, from Oxfam, said: "We have never seen anything like this before. We were completely taken by surprise."

As we have been notified that the bucket of Bristol water up for sale was not a joke, we have reinstated the auction eBay spokesperson

A spokesperson for eBay said: "If an item that is up for sale on the site is perceived as a 'joke auction', which was the case in this instance, it may be removed under the questionable items policy.

"As we have been notified that the bucket of Bristol water up for sale was not a joke, we have reinstated the auction.

"Whilst we are unable to recover the original bids on this item, we hope that the attention drawn to this sale will generate further bids and a good deal of money for charity."

The seller, known only by the callsign juss01, said he was "gutted" at the original decision to pull the sale.

Nearly 10,000 people have logged on to have a look, and a host of copycat sellers have appeared on the auction site.

The auction ends next Thursday.