John Jones says he is a cousin of the estate's last owners

A man from Bangor is laying claim to proceeds from a �2.7m estate which was auctioned because it was believed there was no-one to inherit it.

Six properties around the village of Clocaenog in Denbighshire, along with 450 acres of land, were sold off at auction when the last owner died without anyone to leave his property to.

Money from the sale went to the UK treasury after solicitors failed to trace any surviving family members in a five-year search.

But now property landlord John Jones has emerged to stake a claim in the profits made from the sale, claiming he is the cousin of the estate's previous owner.

The original estate owner, Roger Jones, who lived at Tyn y Celyn, Clocaenog, died in 1959, aged 80.

The lawyers didn't do their job very well, did they? John Jones

It is believed Mr Jones told his five children they would only inherit the estate if they did not marry - and none of them did.

The last remaining brother and sister died within days of each other in 1998.

The estate was finally auctioned in April after the executors' fruitless search to find any beneficiaries.

But publicity surrounding the auction prompted Mr Jones to contact the solicitors.

It is understood Mr Jones is a cousin of the five children of Roger Jones and that he has other brothers and sisters, believed to be living in south Wales.

Mr Jones, who is in his late 50s and lives in a terraced house in Bangor, has confirmed his interest in staking a claim on the estate

"Yes, it's possible I will see my solicitor about this. I was a relative and I have visited the estate.

Tyn y Celyn was one of the six properties on the estate

"The lawyers didn't do their job very well, did they? That is all I want to say."

Nearly 200 people registered as potential bidders for the auction at a restaurant in Denbigh and the various parcels of land and property were sold in 13 lots for a total of �2.7m.

Twelve of those were sold to people with Welsh addresses.

Despite the failure of the solicitors to find relatives, local people were convinced there were other family members who stood to inherit.

A spokesperson for auctioneers, Jones Peckover, said he did not know anything about any relatives of the Jones family.

"We have managed the estate for some years and were instructed to sell it. But we do not know anything about the family.

"However, I can say that an awful lot of work went in to tracing any relatives," said the spokesperson.