ANTIQUITIES and relics from bygone eras will be given a new lease of life as camera crews for a national television programme roll into town.

Flog It! – the popular BBC One antiques programme – will be visited a Darlington auction house next week to record part of the show’s 17th series.

Members of the public are being invited to attend the sale at Thomas Watson’s auctioneers, off Northumberland Street, to watch the filming and see how lots gathered from a recent valuation day at Ushaw College, in County Durham, perform.

David Elstob, director and auctioneer at Thomas Watson, said: “We are delighted to be hosting the Flog It! team at our first Antiques and Collectibles Sale of the year.

“It will be very exciting to see how much the objects sell for and hopefully they will make a tidy sum for their owners.

“We extend a warm invitation to local people to join us on the day and be part of the action,” he added.

Flog It! has more than 1,000 episodes and the programme, presented by Paul Martin, regularly achieves an audience of more than 2,000,000 viewers in its weekday afternoon slot.

The show invites people to bring antiques and collectibles to events across the country to be valued by a team of experts with an option to sell at auction.

A number of these items are placed in sales at selected auction houses, where they are filmed along with their owners and the programme’s antiques experts.

Mr Martin will be present at the Darlington sale along with screen experts Catherine Southon, David Fletcher and James Lewis, on Tuesday, January 16.

Mr Martin said: “We had a very enjoyable day filming at Ushaw last month – it was a real privilege to be able to uncover some of the College’s fascinating history.

“Thanks to everyone who braved the snowy weather and attended the valuation day.

“We wish all the owners whose items are going under the hammer the very best of luck.”

In February last year, the auction house hosted ITV’s Dickinson’s Real Deal with the episode filmed at the Northumberland Street saleroom being scheduled for screening on Tuesday, January 23, at 3pm.

The sale being filmed by Flog It! will begin at 10am.