Officials from the DTI this week swooped on a controversial land investment company exhibiting at the Daily Mail Ideal Home Show following concerns about "landbanking" schemes first raised by Guardian Money.

United Land Holdings is one of the biggest of a new wave of companies which typically promise 1,000%-plus returns by selling investors cheap plots of agricultural land which they claim will be worth a fortune once planning permission is granted.

But today the two-floor United Land display at the Ideal Home Show - emblazoned "land investment made simple" - lies deserted and abandoned.

Exhibitors on adjacent stands said DTI officials swooped on Tuesday, halting trading and confiscating documents and brochures. Computer terminals lie idle, offices are locked and giant plasma screens are blank.

(Via Guardian Unlimited. To read the full story, click here)


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