Fancy a two-up two-down, love?

Last October, George Pitcher took a rather dim view of the use of sex to sell properties (MW October 16, 2003). The Diary hopes that he’s not reading this – it might tip him over the edge. In last week’s Weekend FT, house-hunters were no doubt delighted to see this colour ad, drawing their attention to the secure car park at The Edge, a posh new block of flats in the middle of Manchester. The ad, which carries no images of the development itself, shows a scantily clad young lady, apparently practising her reverse parking on the bonnet of an MG, with the help of an unshaven lout.

While agreeing that the ad is eye-catching, and will no doubt result in plenty of sales enquiries, the Diary is nonetheless worried lest some sort of pay-and-display arrangement is going on…