A sandcastle, up for sale in a Ryde estate agents, was mistaken by an Isle of Wight councillor who believed Appley Tower to be on the market instead.

Independent councillor, and town councillor for Ryde East, Michael Lilley posted on Facebook the Isle of Wight Council had placed the tower up for sale — with a starting price of £175,000.

Cllr Lilley said he was launching a ‘Save the Tower’ campaign in response to the advert, and would seek for it to be formally registered as a community asset.

However, the advert, placed in Lancasters estate agents, was part of the Ryde carnival children’s window spotting competition.

As part of the competition, children have to spot items in different shop windows that are not actually for sale.

The advert featured a photo of a sandcastle, with the tower, beach and pier in the background.

Director of Lancasters, Ben Hollis, responded to Cllr Lilley’s claims the tower was up for sale: “I was made aware of potential ‘confusion’ yesterday by Michael. After checking his email wasn’t dated 1st April, I must admit this has made me chuckle.

“Our window has been successfully ‘spotted’ by hundreds of children without difficulty.

“For clarity: we are not advertising the tower, several acres of beach, nor the Pier for sale. I apologise wholeheartedly to anyone genuinely confused by our sandcastle photograph.”

He added: “Perhaps before making any future statement, especially on issues you know to be sensitive, may I respectfully advise a little due diligence — a single phone call, email or visit would have avoided all of this. ”

Cllr Lilley wrote: “False Alarm! Lancaster’s Estate agents have confirmed the advert to sell Appley Tower was part of the window spotting competition for Ryde Carnival and just a joke! The joke has slightly backed fired as many of us believed it and the future of the Tower is still pending. So Save the Tower campaign continue.”

The tower, which overlooks Ryde Sands, is disused and was closed in 2017. Friends of Appley have been working with Cllr Lilley to find a future use for the tower which is in need of considerable work before it can be permanently reopened.

Updated 10.55am

Cllr Lilley said: “A lot of people really care about that tower.

“A number of elderly people saw the advert and did not realise it was a hoax.

“I apologise for not doing my due dilligence and I should have checked more, but I do not apologise for bringing the issue of the tower to public attention.”