Sir Elton John's Aids Fountain sues banker over unpaid £700,000 charity bid

Sir Elton John is suing a banker who has failed to pay a £700,000 charity auction bid.

Spencer Lodge won a day with Sir Elton and his husband David Furnish, when he placed the bid at the White Tie and Tiara Ball in June 2010. Despite signing a contract to honour his winning bid, the Dubai-based 40-year-old has failed to see through his promise.

According to The Mirror, The Elton John Aids Foundation has now started High Court proceedings to recover the cash, following numerous attempts to make contact with Lodge.

"Elton is not personally hounding the man and demanding the cash back but he is fully supportive of the legal proceedings to benefit the charity," a source told the paper.

"The lot was a one-off opportunity to make his charity an astonishing amount of money. Organisers had actually secured another bid of £650,000 which, of course, they would have been delighted with."

The insider continued: "The feeling is Mr Lodge was at the ball, enjoying the plush surroundings a little too enthusiastically and didn't really know quite how much he was bidding.

"In the cold light of day, it appears he got cold feet and couldn't go through with the bid. Initially there was a misunderstanding as Mr Lodge was changing lawyers but still nothing has been resolved so that's why it has gone this far."

Lodge, who is said to be well-known on the Middle-Eastern business and celebrity circuit, did not comment on the court action.

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