THE entire contents of a Darlington school - including the kitchen sink - are to go under the hammer.

Thousands of items are being put up for sale at Eastbourne School, which counts comedian Vic Reeves as one of its former pupils, before the building is demolished later this year.

Other schools from across Darlington borough have had the opportunity to go into the school and take what they need and the rest will be sold at auction at the school next Wednesday, from 6.30pm.

Items include more than 7,000sq metres of parquet flooring, a small furnace, an electrode oven, two bombproof storage chests and 43 Belfast-style kitchen sinks.

Ian Haszeldine, ward councillor for Lingfield Ward, who has helped organise the auction, said: "We've had a lot of interest in this. I've had people calling me up saying they are going to go along and try to find the desk they scribbled their name on while they were at the school.

"I've got my eye on a couple of lots. I love tools and there's lots up for grabs, so hopefully I'll get lucky.

"We organised it to help trim off some of the costs of demolition. We 've been quoted £400,000 to knock the school down, so it seemed a natural solution to recycle the contents and save the council some money.

"There are no reserves, but I think there will be a lot of interest. However much it makes, it will be a great help to the local authority."

The school has been used by Teesside University since 2007 when the students and teachers moved into St Aidan's Academy. It will be demolished because the university has moved into a new £13m home at Central Point.

A Darlington Borough Council spokeswoman said: "Having surplus equipment and furniture from a whole secondary school is an unusual situation.

"We have tried to recycle as much of the contents as we can within the council, including sharing it with other schools.

"By auctioning what is left, and using an auctioneer experienced in these kinds of sales, we hope to generate a lot of interest and maximise income for the council."

For more information on the lots on offer, go to lithgowsauctions.com