TOY soldier enthusiasts took part in a North-East auction to bid for pieces from the world's largest collection.

Bidders from around the world paid a total of £125,000 for miniatures from the Potsdam collection, which went under the hammer at Vectis auction house, in Fleck Way, in Thornaby, near Stockton.

A rare model children's playground fetched £7,600 while a limited edition set of soldiers from the Coronation year of 1953, called the Sovereign's Escort, went for £3,000.

Both pieces will be going to Germany, where the collection is from originally.

"There was an electric atmosphere in the auction room because there was a German bidder who was keen to buy as much as he could," said Vectis marketing manager Lorna Kaufman.

"Most of the pieces went to North America, Europe and the rest of the world, but there were bidders from the North-East there as well."

The collection was founded by Frederich-Wilhelm Meisner in 1928, a lieutenant colonel in the Imperial Guard in Berlin.

In the past 70 years it has grown into one of the largest and most important of its kind in Europe.

It featured mainly German, British and French soldier figures from the early 19th Century to mid 20th Century, and reflected battles dating back to pre-Christian times.

Yesterday's sale was the first of two in which the models will auctioned. The second will be in Buckinghamshire in October.

Vectis said the army of 150,000 men was worth about £250,000, so it believes it is on target to get the right value for owner.