For anyone looking for the results here is the announcement today:

"Regrettably, the mark of 52,000 entries was not achieved. The number has fallen well short of the required amount. Despite the extensive national and even international publicity we managed to generate, we believe that reports of other competitions being cancelled affected the final number sold. Whilst some competition organisers seem to have indicated that they were concerned about falling foul of gaming legislation, as per the information that has been published on our website, we set ours up under the guidelines provided by the Gaming Commission. Nevertheless, we have reason to believe that the adverse publicity relating to other competitions was the primary cause of not reaching our target figure.

Cash Prize
As per our terms & conditions, the prize will now revert to a monetary sum. We are obliged to carry out a process that will ensure that the competition and draw are shown to have been managed diligently and within the gaming regulations. This process has commenced and we will be announcing the result in early September.

Should you require any further information, please email: sandbankslife All enquiries will be answered, although there may of course be some delays depending on the volume received.

Good luck in the draw!

0870 803 4956"

Hi does anyone have the lastest information on where things stand with the Sandbanks Life competition?

@ bobthorny

still nothing... read an article a few days ago saying people were wondering what's happening?

Here is the latest update on their website:

"Update - as of 30th September 2009

We regret that there has been a further delay in announcing the winner of the cash prize.

Following the scheduled closure of the competition, we confirmed that as per the terms and conditions of the competition, the prize would now be a cash alternative.

We were then obliged to carry out a process to ensure that we had complied with the guidelines of the Gambling Commission.

This process has included sending the relevant information to the Gambling Commission and asking them to confirm that the competition was carried out within their rules and that we would thus be able to announce the winner and award the prize.

We have not yet had a reply and after taking further legal advice, we are sending this update to all entrants - and are copying in the Commissioners in the hope that a response will be forthcoming.

As reported previously, when setting up the competition, we consulted with the Gambling Commission and they provided advice on aspects such as the level of skill required in order for it to be recognised as a competition and thus not be declared an illegal lottery. We followed the advice given and were not instructed to withdraw it and refund monies, as had been the case of some other 'competitions'. (We believe that it was the publicity regarding these withdrawn competitions that lowered the amount of entries for the Sandbanks competition)

We would ask you to be patient for a little while longer whilst we seek a response from the Gambling Commission."

Looks like this could take longer than expected :(

"The solicitor acting for us in this matter, Jon Payne of Horsey Lightly Fynn stated that he has received a reply from the Gambling Commission, dated 6th October 2009.

Frustratingly, it appears to have been drafted in such a way as to be ambiguous, indicating on the one hand that they do not intend to take any action 'currently' in terms of our competition being an illegal lottery, whilst at the same time reserving the right to take action against us at an unspecified future date.

We have therefore had no choice but to ask our solicitor to ask the Commission to remove the ambiguity as without such action, we are currently at risk of prosecution after concluding the draw.

Considering that they have been aware of the competition from even before it was launched and having even acknowledged within their response that our declared methodology complied with their rules, the imposition of the right to take action at a further date must be considered profoundly unfair.

We will continue to provide information and updates on this matter and sincerely hope that it will be concluded shortly.

Good luck in the draw!"