Deed Bars Pair From Boozing in New Home

A couple who bought a 150-year-old cottage have discovered they are legally banned from drinking alcohol in their new home.

The cottage of Mark and Mary Souter on the Isle of Wight, off southern England, once belonged to a 19th-Century Baptist minister. who inserted the ban on booze in the title deeds, along with a rule against gambling.

Mark, 26, said: “We could be prosecuted every time we have a drink but our lawyer says it’s unlikely anyone would sue.”