An entire village is set to be sold off at a public auction. Olivares de San Nicolas, 1050km north-west of Buenos Aires, is home to 800 families and has its own church, school, police station and football stadium. A judge ordered the village be put up for sale to the highest bidder next month after the olive-growing firm that currently owns it defaulted on a bank loan.

On Tuesday a judge said he had ordered the land to be auctioned off on Dec. 18 to settle debts owed to BBVA Banco Frances, but the bank said it wants the settlement turned over to the over 700 people who live there.

Workers in Olivares de San Nicolas built their houses, stores, and even the local church and school on land owned by an olive oil company of the same name in central Argentina. The residential area constitutes only about 20 hectares (50 acres) of the nearly 2,020-hectare (5,000-acre) property, most of which is olive groves.

In a statement released Wednesday, the bank told The Associated Press it had offered to exclude the residential area if the indebted company sells it for a token fee to the people who live there.

"The bank is interested in recovering the loan, not destroying the town," bank spokesman said in the statement.

Villagers are fighting the move to auction their home as you would expect.