LONDON: A British lord is putting a mountain up for sale in a bid to pay off part of his hefty inheritance tax bill.
Hugh Lowther, the Earl of Lonsdale, has put Blencathra, a 2,850-foot high peak in the picturesque Lake District in northwest England, on the market for £1.75m ($3m).
Lowther felt forced to sell the 2,676-acre mountain, known as Saddleback due to its shape, to help pay off the reported £9 million he owes the Treasury from his father’s inheritance.
Inheritance tax, set at 40 percent, is payable on the amount of an estate above a £325,000 threshold. “My family have owned Blencathra and its manor for over 400 years, so the sale of this iconic property will be a great loss,” the earl said.
“However, we need to realise capital for inheritance tax following the death of my father in 2006 and our aim is to retain the core portions of the Lonsdale estates intact as far as is possible.”
MEXICO CITY: A senior Mexican police officer and four gunmen were killed in the latest gang-related clash in the troubled northeastern state of Tamaulipas, authorities said yesterday.
Three marines and a military police officer were wounded in the skirmish late Monday in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas, while five suspects were detained, officials said.
Salvador de Haro Munoz, the state police’s director of investigations, was killed shortly after taking his post. The clash took place when an investigation into a criminal group led federal and state security forces to a house in Ciudad Victoria.
“The armed civilians, after seeing the presence of security forces and to avoid being detained, opened fire with large weapons and automatic handguns, starting a clash,” the Tamaulipas security coordination group said in a statement.
The statement did not identify the gang but Tamaulipas is home to the Gulf and Zetas drug cartels.
AFP
