Property tycoon Fergus Wilson has denied claims in a national newspaper that he is in mortgage arrears.

The 61-year-old, with a personal fortune of about £70 million, denies claims in the Daily Mail that he and his wife are up to £350,000 in arrears on mortgage payments and that three of his properties in Park Farm are now worth only £160,000.

“The long and the short of it is someone has got the wrong end of the stick,” he said after Saturday’s article.

The former maths teacher continued: “They should have researched that article an awful lot better than they did.

“I’ve written a very pleasant letter to the editor because this is about journalistic standards and it’s not correct.

“It doesn’t do the residents of Ashford any favours either because it’s saying all their properties have gone down.

“I’ve said to him if you can find a three-bed, detached property in Park Farm for £160,000, as they’re claiming, then I’ll give them a £5,000 finder’s fee.

“However, if they can’t find one, they can give £5,000 to a charity of my nomination.”

Mr Wilson also extended his offer to Kentish Express readers.

As to the claim that he and his wife Judith, who began snapping up property in 1990, are up to £350,000 in arrears on their monthly mortgage payments, Mr Wilson said the figure had come from the fact that 30 of his 700 properties are mortgaged at a higher rate, meaning he is £350,000 out of pocket than had he taken a lower interest rate.

Claims that homes were on the brink of being repossessed and that many lay empty were also denied by Mr Wilson, who said all of his homes currently had tenants.

Earlier this year, the self-made millionaires were ranked 793rd in The Sunday Times Rich List and are now planning to sell their entire portfolio, standing to make about £70 million in profit.