960428

HK man pays

$1.1 m for licence

plate

HONG KONG: A mystery bidder in Hong Kong paid $1.1 million (US$142,000) for a licence plate reading "97" to mark the British colony's reversion to Chinese rule at midnight on June 30, 1997, a newspaper said on Sunday.

But the bidder, a local Chinese who refused to reveal his identity, paid the price in publicity as he was forced to flee an over-zealous press pack which refused to take "no comment" for an answer, the South China Morning Post said.

The buyer fled down seven flights of stairs, trailing puffing journalists and cameramen before making his escape on a cross-harbour ferry, the paper said.

Licence plates with numbers considered lucky or auspicious often fetch high prices at government auctions.-Reuter