A BUILDING society employee is about to put his money skills to the ultimate test by buying and selling hotels and houses.

But 50-year-old Stephen Castling, from Llandenny near Usk, will only be using pretend cash when he takes part in the UK Monopoly Championships 2004.

Self-confessed Monopoly-nut Mr Castling, who is a solicitor and secretary with the Newport-based Monmouthshire Building Society, beat off more than 500 hopefuls nationwide to secure a place in the finals.

He will pit his wits against 64 fellow competitors for a £5,000 prize and an all-expenses paid trip to Japan to take part in the World Championships in Tokyo.

"I started my interest in Monopoly 15 years ago on a trip to New York," said Mr Castling.

"I'd always thought Monopoly to be a British game but I found out it was invented in 1935 and based on New Jersey, and has since been marketed world-wide."

Mr Castling has collected 146 different versions of the game from across the globe.Though he hasn't yet managed to play them all.

"Some are still untouched by human hands," he confessed. He earned his place at the finals, to be hosted on the real-life version of HMS Belfast, a traditional Monopoly playing piece, after logging on to the website of board game manufacturers Parker Brothers.

"I had to answer about 20 questions about the game and come up with a witty tiebreaker line," he explained.

"The next thing I knew Parker contacted me to tell me I'd been successful."

Unfortunately for Mr Castling, his wife Jill and teenage children Stephanie, 19, and Tristram, 14, don't share his passion for the famous board game. "I guess I ought to get some practise in but I'm not sure I can convince my family," he laughed.

"They think I'm barking mad!

"I suppose it is ironic considering what I do for a living." Mr Castling will compete in the British Championships on Friday.