You may usually have to marry well, have loads of money or be born with a silver spoon in your mouth to have any chance of having a posh title, but the Derby Evening Telegraph is planning to give one reader a taste of the high life for free.

The Telegraph snapped up the title of the Lordship of Smalley at auction earlier this year and will now lend the rights to the title to one of its readers for a year, along with a lifestyle to match.

The winning reader will be the temporary owner of the title of Lord of the Manor of Smalley, with the Derbyshire village of Smalley their own personal fiefdom.

The peerage once guaranteed a seat in the House of Lords and the right to hold civil and criminal courts.

But these days the owners get a coat of arms, and the history and prestige that goes with the name – and the Telegraph winner will also get £23,000 worth of prizes, including holidays and weekend breaks.

The prize also includes clothes, cinema passes and family membership to a gym.

Editor Mike Norton said: “This is a unique opportunity for a local person to take on the mantle of lord of the manor.

“We can’t fix it for them to take their place in the House of Lords, but we can lay on all the trimmings so that they can live like one.”