Now Noel puts his £3m French chateau on sale
... as he fights bank for £300m payout
NOEL Edmonds is selling his £3million dream French chateau as he battles with Lloyds Bank over the collapse of his business.
The TV star, who is demanding £300million compensation from the bank after ‘ large- scale industrial fraud’ he says left him on the brink of suicide, has owned the 18th- century villa for 13 years.
But the 68-year- old has now put the grand estate on the market for £2.97million after moving into a luxury apartment in Monaco.
The sprawling six-bedroom manor – said to be the ‘home he adores’ – is at Grasse on the French Riviera, a 30-minute drive from Cannes.
Called the Perfumed Garden, the mansion is spread across three floors and comes with a swimming pool and glorious views of the surrounding vineyards.
A grand private driveway loops around olive trees to reveal the stunning stone house, decked out in traditional French style with blue shutters and a patio.
Despite the palatial surroundings, a spokesman said the former Deal Or No Deal presenter doesn’t spend time there any more because he lives in Monaco and therefore has chosen to sell.
In 2015, the TV star sold his £3million Grade II-listed Gloucestershire manor house which he shared with his third wife Liz, 48.
He claims his entertainment company, Unique Group, was destroyed along with hundreds of other small businesses thanks to ‘ large- scale industrial fraud’ at HBOS.
Edmonds said he was ‘taken to the brink of emotional annihilation’ after his company was destroyed by the scandal. Lloyds rescued HBOS at the height of the 2008 financial crisis and has set aside £100million for claims.
But the presenter is asking for three times this amount due to the ‘ deep distress and public
‘Pool and glorious views’
humiliation’ he says he suffered.
In September, the presenter revealed deep-pocketed investors would fund his landmark legal case. He is one of thousands suing the bank.
His claims refer to the £245million loan scam carried out by HBOS employees in Reading, who were jailed earlier this year.
Lloyds has already made more than £10million worth of compensation offers to customers affected by the scandal, which took place between 2003 and 2007.
Six people were jailed for the fraud, which targeted small businesses and forced owners to pay huge fees to a consultancy firm.
The consultants had bribed corrupt bank managers with luxury trips and sex parties.
Speaking frankly earlier this year about how the incident drove him to try to take his own life, he said: ‘Until these criminals took me to the brink of emotional annihilation, I had always felt those who opt out by taking their own lives were selfish and cowardly.
‘But having been cast into that bottomless dark space devoid of logic and reason, I have a much deeper understanding of life without hope. I seek no sympathy and feel no shame in admitting that on the evening of January 18 2005 I attempted to end the overwhelming mental pain which had consumed my whole being.
‘The fact that I did not become another suicide statistic is solely due to the swift response of a Devon ambulance crew and the compassionate support of the Priory in Bristol.’