A Belfast house builder has been criticised for staging a queue of first-time buyers outside an estate agents, in a bid to stimulate interest in a new development.

The PR agency for Bradkeel Developments, which is building Belfast's Sugar Walk scheme, sent out a press release entitled 'Worth the Wait', with photos of people queueing, one sat in a deckchair and wrapped in a sleeping bag.

However, the photos have been exposed as at least partially fake, according to the Irish Times. The woman in the deck chair at the head of the queue is actually a model paid by PR agency Michelle McTernan Management.

John Davis of property consultants Davis and Armstrong, told the newspaper: "Everyone and his dog is trying to talk up the market so that people again feel panicked that they should get back on to the ladder.

"The reality is that there is very little demand for property in the north of Ireland."

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