THE Higgs boson particle may only just have been discovered, but it’s already up for sale on eBay.

Thanks to one Christchurch man, the sub-atomic particle could be yours for a bargain price, including delivery.

‘Seller’ Stephen Boothby, 46, set up the online auction to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Mr Boothby, a stay-at-home dad, said: “I was looking online about all the hype around the Higgs boson, and as my sister has just had her kidney removed because of quite an aggressive form of cancer I thought I could tie the two together.

“I’d seen adverts for other silly things on eBay and wanted to try and do the same kind of thing.”

He claims he found the ‘used’ Higgs boson in his vacuum cleaner but didn’t realise what it was until scientists at the Large Hadron Collider announced they had found “something” earlier this week.

It is too small to see and comes out “a bit fuzzy” in photographs, the lot states.

Initially, Mr Boothby pledged to open his window and let the Higgs boson float to its new owner.

Bids had reached £10.50 when eBay bosses swooped in and removed the Higgs Boson ad overnight on Thursday, arguing Mr Boothby was not selling an item and breaching company policy.

So he’s re-posted it again, this time promising to deliver the item in a vial. He added: “To be quite honest the science of the Higgs Boson is a bit over my head. It would be good if we could also find somebody to explain it all to me.”

Bids close on Monday, July 16.