A COLLECTOR got more than he bargained for when he bought a box of technical drawings on eBay for £95 – only to discover they were worth closer to £32,000.

Jonathan Moller, whose drawings of locomotive designs from Robert Stephenson's Darlington and Newcastle works featured on BBC's Antiques Roadshow on Sunday, purchased them from a seller on eBay two years ago.

As an archaeological surveyor and illustrator, the 36-year-old had been searching for a design drawing to put on his wall, and put a bid in – only to find a 23 kilogram package arrive on his doorstep several days later.

The 650 design drawings feature locomotives destined for all over the world, including Iraq and India, among those closer to home, all from the world-famous Stephenson works.

Antiques Roadshow expert Paul Atterbury said: "By mistake, you have become the keeper of a very important archive.

"In 1823 he (Robert Stephenson) started a company in Newcastle to build locomotives. Then came Locomotion No. 1, then most famously was the Rocket.

"In the 1830s he was selling locomotives to America, Egypt, and elsewhere.

"What we have got here is a wonderful range of designs for locomotives for different companies."

Mr Moller, who lives in Saffron Walden, Essex, but bought the drawings from an eBay seller in the north of England, told The Northern Echo: "I was watching the Antiques Roadshow a couple of years ago and they had some beautiful water work drawings.

"I really wanted to have one on my wall, and I saw this not particularly well-listed auction on eBay.

"I didn't really know what I was getting and when this huge package arrived my wife said, oh no, what has he bought now?

"The earliest design is the 1890s and they go up to the 1940s and they are largely designs for the Commonwealth Market, India, China, parts of South America.

"I don't yet know whether I'm going to sell them. I actually own the copyright, so I could keep them or license the reprinting. But my wife Amelia wants the cupboards back and she is not happy, so there is some pressure for the cupboards to come back into use.

The Antiques Roadshow is available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days after it is broadcast.