A CURSED Scottish pike which has haunted the members of a Warrington sports club has finally found a new home - on the other side of the Atlantic!

As reported in the Guardian, the glass-cased stuffed fish which graced the wall of the Carlsberg Tetley Club on Long Lane was up for auction, but didn't attract a single bid, prompting speculation that its curse lived on.

But as it went under the hammer for a second time at Halls Fine Art in Chester a north west dealer bought it for £750. He now plans to export it to America where fishing trophies are fashionable.

Nicknamed Percy, the 71-year-old fish has been blamed for the untimely death of countless members who dared to sit beneath its perch on the Orford club's wall. For years Percy took pride of place near the dartboard. A picture of a bowls team once hung below it and as the members died the pike jokingly got the blame. Then the club's domino team, who used to sit below it for their regular games, died off one by one. One tragic story says a retired member died a day after making the fatal mistake of sitting under the pike.

The mystery deepened when the club discovered that there are now no fish in the Scottish loch where the pike was caught.

Joanne Boucher, of Halls Fine Art, joked: "Nothing untoward happened while he was in our possession but whether or not the curse will live on remains to be seen."