Property pair set to cash in on Commonwealth Games site

TWO of Britain's richest men will cash in on a massive Commonwealth Games land-grab in one of Scotland's poorest areas.

A Sunday Mail investigation has revealed that a firm owned by billionaire property barons Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz are due to get a bumper payout of public cash for land they own in Glasgow's east end.

Glasgow City Council are buying up tracts of wasteground and derelict buildings that will be redeveloped and turned into the athletes' village for the 2014 Games.

They are still negotiating with a handful of private owners, including the Tchenguiz brothers' firm Fairhold. The company own a 1.1-hectare plot of land bordered by Spring field Road and London Road.

Property law expert Professor Tom Guthrie, of Glasgow University, said: "A sum of compensation is paid, because the individuals stand to lose their land. People can't fix their own price but, if the process has to be carried out quickly, then the council could end up paying over the odds."

The Tchenguiz brothers, based in Mayfair, London, own or manage 300,000 buildings. They have been known to trade £750million a day on the financial markets.

Another private owner who will be bought out under compulsory purchase orders is chip shop owner Mario Lucchesi, 82.

His son Richard, 40, said: "My dad has worked in the area for 60 years and built up the business from scratch.

"Maybe if he was younger, he would fight this."

A council spokesman said the compensation figures were "commercially sensitive" and would not be made public.