Surprise star of toy auction

The stickers were valued at between £70 and £80

A set of unused Corgi car stickers, which were expected to raise less than £100 have been sold for almost £3,000 at an auction on Teesside.

The three-day sale of 8,000 items began on Tuesday at the headquarters of auctioneers Vectis.

Thousands of buyers spent around £120,000 at the event in Thornaby, with bids taken at the venue, by phone, or over the Internet.

A spokesman for Vectis said: "It has gone very successfully for us.

"If the other days follow like this it will be fantastic."

One lot of unapplied transfers made in the 1950s and 1960s for Corgi cars - valued at £70-£90 - was sold for £2,800 to an English buyer.

The stickers were being sold by a former employee of Corgi, whose vintage products have increased dramatically in value over recent years.