Online virginity auction - girl settles for £8,400...

An 18-year-old student who sold her virginity on the internet has revealed an unnamed 44-year-old BT engineer and father of two was the 'lucky winner' of her sex auction.

Rosie Reid, who sold her virginity to the highest bidder via her own website after the lot was removed from eBay, claims to have received interest from around 2,000 bidders. She told the News of the World that it was a BT man who came in with the highest bid - a staggering £8,400, funded, albeit very indirectly, via the 'blue bill' (a phrase which takes on a whole new meaning) sent to BT customers.

Further embarrassment for the man - who has become the subject of a witch-hunt led by the newspaper - will come from Reid admitting the experience was "horrible" but blessedly brief.

Police are now reportedly looking into the sale and investigating whether Reid, a student at Bristol University, should be arrested on charges of soliciting.

Reid told the newspaper that prostituting herself was preferable to running up large student debts and believes the controversial act will spark debate on the mounting funding crisis facing UK students.

The auction isn't the first of its kind. In 2001 a Midlands woman offered herself for sale on a variety of auction sites, going one step further than Reid by stating she would marry the highest bidder. However, that auction ended in disappointment when the successful bidder failed to honour his bid.