BEATLES CROSSING ABBEY ROAD SHOTS HAVE SOLD FOR A WHOPPING £180,000

• The six stills were taken on same session as memorable cover shot
• Photographer Iain Macmillan made band walk over road repeatedly
• Paul McCartney picked shot used as album cover - rest were discarded

The six stills were rejected as possible covers of the Beatles' famed Abbey Road album released in September 1969, just months before they split up.

They were taken by Scots photographer Iain Macmillan, a close friend of John Lennon, who balanced precariously on a ladder in the middle of the road in north London for the shoot.

Beatles crossing Abbey Road shot for the cover of the last album they recorded together have sold for a whopping £180,000

They were taken by Scots photographer Iain Macmillan, a close friend of John Lennon, who balanced precariously on a ladder in the middle of the road in north London for the shoot

He had just 10 minutes to get his shot so he got the Fab Four to walk back and forth continuously over the now famous zebra crossing

He had just 10 minutes to get his shot so he got the Fab Four to walk back and forth continuously over the now famous zebra crossing. 

As a consequence three of the unused shots feature the Beatles walking 'the wrong way' over the crossing in the opposite direction to the iconic image that was chosen as the album cover.

In the fifth shot in the sequence each member of the band appears to be walking at the same time, and the road behind them is clear.

Paul McCartney picked the shot to be used as the album cover - the rest were discarded.

Also sold was the photo that became the back cover of the album - a road sign with a blurred person in the foreground.

Three of the unused shots feature the Beatles walking 'the wrong way' over the crossing in the opposite direction to the iconic image that was chosen as the album cover

Sarah Wheeler, head of photography at Bloomsbury Auctions with one of the framed out takes from the famous Abbey Road photoshoot

Macmillan was just about to take his shot when a girl in a blue dress walked into the frame, but the band liked it and chose it for the back cover.

Experts predicted the photos would make £70,000 when they went under the hammer at Bloomsbury Auctions.

It will be the first time they have ever been sold as a complete set.

Sarah Wheeler, Head of Photography at Bloomsbury Auctions said: 'Iain Macmillan was hired by the Beatles in 1969 to shoot the album art for Abbey Road but he only had 10 minutes to do it in.

'He was stood on a ladder leaning against a tree and for 10 minutes he got John, Paul, George and Ringo to walk back and forth across the zebra crossing on Abbey Road.

'He took shots of them going both ways across the crossing until he finally got the frame he was after.

'In the photo we all know the Beatles are all very symmetrical and there is no traffic in the background but in the outtakes there are taxis and buses on the road.'

Paul picked the shot to be used the album cover - the rest were discarded

She added: 'It is amazing to see the making of what is one of the most iconic pop photographs ever taken.

'More than 50 years on people are still going to Abbey Road to recreate Iain Macmillan's photo.

'The outtakes are incredibly rare individually but this is the first time they have ever been sold as a set.'

Abbey Road was the penultimate album released by the Beatles, however Let It Be, their final album, had largely been recorded before the material on Abbey Road.

The outtake photographs were passed to Iain Macmillan's family following his death in 2006.

They were sold individually but have since been reunited by a private collector who is now selling the set.