Gooners speculate to accumulate (a season ticket)

Thousands of Arsenal fans are today in a scramble to buy flats in the shadow of the club's £400 million stadium.

More than 2,000 people turned up at the current Highbury ground over the weekend to spend up to £525,000 on homes, lured by the promise of jumping the two-year waiting list for a season ticket.

All but 20 of the 255 Holloway apartments have now been sold despite the fact that none of them have yet been built.

One family of three were so excited by the offer of immediate access to a season ticket they walked away with three flats after putting down a £1,000 deposit.

Others who already had season tickets were convinced by offers of guaranteed rental incomes.

Arsenal's new Ashburton Gate 60,000-seat stadium is due to open for the 2007 season but buyers have been told they will have access to a £1,724 season ticket immediately.