HIDDEN riches and forgotten artefacts are set to feature as part of a televised treasure hunt through a Darlington auction house.

An episode of popular BBC One daytime television programme, Antiques Road Trip, has been filmed in the town’s Thomas Watsons auctioneers with the long-running shows experts arriving in style.

The programme, now in its thirteenth series, brought camera crews and antiques experts, Paul Laidlaw and Claire Rawle, to the Northumberland Street gallery saleroom earlier this year as part of a North-East treasure trail.

Antiques Road Trip sees teams of experts travel across the UK in classic vintage cars, competing in pairs to make the biggest profit by buying and selling rare and collectable items.

Mr Laidlaw and Ms Rawle made their visit to Darlington in a classic TVR sports car before spending a budget of £200 each in the auction house’s March gallery sale.

Peter Robinson, auctioneer at Thomas Watsons, said: “We were thrilled that we were chosen to feature in this popular show and it was a real pleasure to welcome Paul, Claire and and all of the crew for what was an incredibly exciting day at the saleroom.

“We have had to keep quiet what the individual items made at the sale so it will be nice that the wait is finally over.

“We hope that Paul and Claire achieved some good totals on the rest of their journey and it would be fantastic to see them win the series.”

The success of the individual lots will be revealed when the Darlington auction house features on the show on Monday, September 26, on BBC One at 4.30pm.