A social club that featured in the hit film Billy Elliot has sold at auction after attracting a 'staggering amount' of interest.
Dawdon Miners Welfare Club in Seaham, which has been closed for a couple of years, was sold by Auction Estates for £152,000 - well above the guide price of £75,000-plus.
The club was used in the 2000 film Billy Elliot during a scene where Billy's father announced how well his ballet-dancing son had done in an audition.
It also featured as the backdrop in another scene of the film which followed a County Durham boy as he pursued his dream of dancing to the backdrop of the 1980s miners' strikes.
The club, on Mount Stewart Street, was once a popular venue for events such as birthday parties and weddings but it closed just before the Covid pandemic in early 2020 and has not reopened since.
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It went into voluntary liquidation in September 2021 and was sold last Thursday (October 20) by Auction Estates Limited.
Matt Revill, senior surveyor and auctioneer, said: "Auction Estates were instructed to sell the Dawdon Miners Welfare on behalf of the acting Reviever's.
"Over the years I have sold numerous former welfare and social clubs but this one was somewhat of a rarity as it was not just a popular building for the community but also part of the film set for the Blockbuster film Billy Elliot filmed in the year 2000.
"The property boasted a total floor area of circa 7,800 sq ft and comprised various rooms including a large dance hall.
"The property presented an attractive investment opportunity for buyers with a guide price of £75,000+ which generated a staggering amount of interest in the open block viewings.
"The property was offered in the auction room on October 20 after a six-week intensive marketing period and when the gavel fell we achieved a brilliant sale price of £152,000.
"I was both surprised and extremely happy for the client at the figure we achieved at auction and it demonstrated how the auction process can positively impact the capital receipt of a property when purchasers' minds are channeled to the deadline of a sale."
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