A PRECIOUS pearl encrusted mouse, almost identical to one at the centre of a legal row in the North-East, is to go under the hammer next week.

Minnie the gold mouse will be one of more than 1,000 works of art that will go on sale during a four-day auction in London and Amsterdam.

The mouse belonged to Dutch businessman Anton Dreesmann, who amassed a prolific collection of art, ranging from the precious rodent to works by Van Gogh and Gaugin.

The gold mouse is expected to fetch £100,000 and is believed to have been made by the goldsmith Henri Maillardet, of Geneva, about 200 years ago.

It is believed that he also designed the £90,000 Bowes mouse, which was one of only four made about 200 years ago and could well have belonged to the same set as Minnie.

The Bowes mouse was stolen in 1994, days before it was due to be the centrepiece of an exhibition, and has since been at the centre of a wrangle over ownership.

It was finally spotted while being prepared for auction abroad by silver dealers SJ Philips, in London, in 2000.

An antiques dealer was acquitted of charges of handling stolen goods in a trial at Luton Crown Court after he denied it was the same mouse as the one stolen from the museum.

But the mouse's future is still uncertain as its ownership is contested. Legal proceedings are still ongoing, and it is expected to go to either the museum or jewellers SJ Philips.

A spokesman for the museum said: "It is a very delicate issue and court proceedings over its ownership are continuing, so it would be inappropriate to make any further comment at this stage."