MONEY can't buy you love, The Beatles sang, but love of the Fab Four can earn you money.

Fans of the Liverpool mop tops, who changed the face of popular music in the 1960s, found out just how valuable their teenage memories can be.

A company that specialises in buying autographs and other mementoes from the heyday of the British beat boom, visited the North-East at the weekend.

Lancashire company Tracks held valuation and buy-in sessions in Sunderland and Newcastle.

The Beatles played a total of nine times in the two cities in the early Sixties and Tracks, making its first visit to the region, was hoping to unearth long-buried treasures.

"There was nothing really breathtaking,'' said company manager Paul Wane. The only funny thing was a chap who came in with a programme signed by The Beatles. They'd signed it at a garage and he wasn't sure if it was authentic.

"We checked it out and they were. We valued it at a couple of thousand of quid and he was quite shell-shocked.''

Other items of interest to come the experts' way was a complete set of signatures from Buddy Holly and the Crickets penned after a gig at Newcastle City Hall.

"A lady came in with a nice set of signatures from Jimi Hendrix and The Experience. She had a two shilling bit taped to the page. Jimi Hendrix had apparently given the coin to her friend."

Anyone with potentially valuable memorabilia can call Tracks on (01257) 269726.