A Chelmsford games enthusiast will be hoping to pass Go and collect £5,000 at the UK Monopoly championships tomorrow.

David Gatheral is in with a chance of winning the prize money and a place round the board at the world championships in Tokyo.

The 31-year-old county council worker will be using his favourite piece, the battleship, while on a life-size version, HMS Belfast, which hosts the London tournament.

His tactics are to buy all the orange-topped properties and he hopes that a diplomatic approach to opponents will get him out of jail.

"To enter, I had to answer 10 questions about Monopoly and write a tie-breaker, so I said it would be the only free parking I was going to get in London," said David.

He lives with girlfriend Clare Orm, in Hayes Close. When he is not being a miniature property tycoon, he plays in the chess team at the Queen's Head pub, in Lower Anchor Street.