Lifetime toy collection auctioned

The cardboard roundabout with lead figures was a star lot

A collection of toy lead figures put together over the lifetime of an East Sussex enthusiast has gone under the auctioneer's hammer.

Anthony Doggett, 63, from Seaford, began collecting the toys as a boy but instead of choosing soldiers he specialised in civilian figures.

An especially rare, 5in (12.5cm) high fairground roundabout fetched £2,200.

The sale, at Wallis and Wallis auction rooms in Lewes, included more than 100 lots, which fetched a total of £30,000.

Made of cardboard

Auctioneer Glenn Turner said he had previously only ever seen the Britains roundabout in books.

"Most of it is made of cardboard, so the first time it was used it would probably fall apart," he said.

"To find it with boy and girl figures - it has never been seen before."

Most of the buyers were serious toy dealers, but one hopeful browser was 13-year-old Will Melling, whose interest began when his father bought him a box of lead soldiers as a boy.

Mr Doggett said he, too, had begun his collection by the age of 13.

"I am 63 now and so it is 50 years," he said.

"I have been haunting London auction rooms and antiques fairs all that time."