A TREASURE trove of antique furniture from a Durham City house fetched thousands of pounds when it was auctioned in Newcastle.

The last remaining furniture from a "time capsule" Durham property came under the hammer in a four-day sale last week.

Grafton House, in Durham, which is on the market for about £750,000, was built at the end of the 19th Century in the city's South Street and was originally occupied by Eleanor Charlton, a descendant of the Anderson family whose large home used to stand in the centre of Newcastle.

She furnished the property with items which she had inherited from the family's next home, Coxlodge Hall, in Newcastle, and the contents remained undisturbed until the next occupant, relative Gwendoline Wilkinson, died earlier this year.

Andrew McCoull, managing partner at Newcastle auctioneers Anderson and Garland, said: "The house was furnished with some of the finest antiques we've seen in several years.

"It always creates enormous interest when such a collection as this comes on to the market for the first time in decades, and the prices realised certainly reflected this."

A set of 12 Victorian dining chairs fetched £5,000; a George III extending dining table sold for more than £3,000 and a William IV mahogany bookcase sold for nearly £3,500 - all above their estimated prices.

Mr McCoull said: "Now that we have disposed of the last furniture in the property we are looking forward to our June sale, when we shall be selling its collection of pictures, which includes a number of family portraits."

The sale realised a total of £450,000 for about 1,800 lots of paintings, antiques and collectables from various properties from around the region.