California to hold 'garage sale'

California is holding a two-day online sale of unneeded or unclaimed items

The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is holding an online "garage sale" in his latest effort to balance the US state's budget.

The Great California Garage Sale will see 6,000 items, including everything from cars to coat racks, auctioned off on two websites, eBay and Craigslist.

Mr Schwarzenegger has even autographed the sun visors of several of the vehicles on sale to raise their values.

California's $85bn (£52.5bn) budget has a deficit of $26bn (£16bn).

On Monday, a vote on a plan to release 27,000 prisoners early in an attempt to save money was delayed in the California Assembly.

'Win-win'

The state began selling unneeded or unclaimed items online last week and is holding a two-day auction of 6,000 more on Friday and Saturday in Sacramento.

Together we are eliminating waste and providing great deals in this tough economy Arnold Schwarzenegger Governor of California

In addition to some rather old and well-used vehicles declared surplus by Mr Schwarzenegger last month, buyers could also walk away with computers, box cutters, binoculars, a belt buckle, a fishing rod and a ceramic heart.

"By posting items online, Californians and people from other states and around the world can participate in the Great California Garage Sale," Mr Schwarzenegger said in a statement on his website.

"This is a win-win for the state and for shoppers. Together we are eliminating waste and providing great deals in this tough economy."

Mr Schwarzenegger took the idea of autographing some of the cars being auctioned from one of his 980,000 "followers" on the micro-blogging website, Twitter.

"I look forward to selling these signed cars and making some $ for California," he tweeted last week as he signed the visors.

One of them, a 1997 green Ford Taurus with 109,305 miles on the clock, has so far fetched $2,025 (£1,250), with only six hours of the auction remaining.

State Senator Dean Florez told the Los Angeles Times that he was "amazed" Mr Schwarzenegger still resorted to "antics that are kind of reflective of a person that is larger than life".