A COLLECTION of newspaper cuttings - including some from the D&S Times - and ephemera relating to the Stockton and Darlington railway outstripped all estimates at auction.

The five-volume collection concerning the railway and the industrial history of the North-East was highly contested at an antiquarian and modern book sale at auctioneers Thomas Mawer and Son of Lincoln.

Stephen Smallwood, expert in books and manuscripts, said: "After keen bidding from the room and over the telephone, the volumes were finally sold for £1,350 - well in excess of the estimate of £500 to £1,000.

"The auction was well attended with members of the public and dealers from Lincolnshire and the neighbouring counties. All but three of the 300 hundred lots found buyers and the sale total reached £15,000."

Among the highlights was a bound set of the works of Charles Dickens, which sold for £260 despite some damp staining. A large amount of English literature and books on military matters consistently sold between £20 and £100 per box.

An interesting collection of sixteenth and seventeenth century letters written by the kings and queens of Spain sold for between £60 and £210. The highest figure of £210 was achieved for a letter signed by Charles II in 1680.