A group of 46 Britons, owners of flats in the Bulgarian ski resort of Bansko, threw up a party over the weekend to celebrate their court victory and the regained access to their own properties.

The resolution of the dispute is considered so significant that even Cath­er­ine Bar­ber, Charge d'af­faires (act­ing Head of Mis­sion) of the UK Mis­sion in Sofia, attended the party on Sunday at the All-Seasons leisure complex in the town of Bansko, 120 miles south of the capital Sofia.

Cath­er­ine Bar­ber herself inaugurated officially the building and cut the ribbon, while everyone was welcomed with bread and salt, following Bulgarian traditions.

Seventy-eight Britons bought apartments in the complex, but not all of them managed to come to what they dubbed the Victory Party.

The court saga over the alleged Bulgarian property fraud worth millions of pounds dragged on for over three years.

The Britons invested a total of more than GBP 6 M at a "green" stage on 70 apartments at the All-Seasons complex in the mountains above Bansko, but were defrauded.

The investors accused the Bulgarian real estate company "Zekom" and its director, Roman Romanov, of illicit dealing.

Since "Zekom" has sold the property to a third party, the Britons were denied entry to their flats in All-Seasons for over two years.

In March 2010, 74 British citizens stormed into the Bulgarian apartment complex, saying this is the only way to gain access to their property.

Bansko, 120 miles from the Bulgarian capital Sofia, is a top-class ski resort. British buyers used to flock to Bulgaria but have largely stopped since the country's property bubble burst in 2008.