Beckham's bed sheets auctioned

Fans swarmed outside the Beijing Hotel hoping to glimpse the player

Bed sheets and other items used by David Beckham and his Real Madrid teammates in Beijing were auctioned on Monday to support Sars victims.

Items used by the team during a three-day stay at the luxurious Beijing Hotel were eagerly snapped up by ecstatic fans.

One fan paid 2,800 yuan ($341) for the Chinese pyjamas, bed sheets, towel and pillow cases used by the club's latest, and arguably most famous addition.

Another bidder paid $340 to stay in the room Beckham used, $100 more than the normal rate.

Other items sold at the auction included a football signed by Beckham and his teammates, sold for 21,000 yuan ($2,560).

The auction raised a total of 150,000 yuan ($18,300) for children of nurses and doctors who died battling Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars).

Beckham and his team are now in Tokyo after spending 10 days in China training and playing an exhibition match against a Chinese XI, the first for the England captain since he joined the Spanish champions.