MORE THAN 300 LOTS WERE UP FOR SALE AT THE ANNUAL BEATLES SHOP-ORGANISED AUCTION

Four sketches of Beatles-esque faces drawn by Paul sold for a combined £15,000 at an auction in Liverpool on Saturday.

The drawings were among more than 300 lots up for sale at the Annual Beatles Memorabilia Auction at LIPA, organised by the Beatles Shop for the 24th year and overseen by auctioneer John Crane of Cato Crane.

A custom-built radiogram which belonged to Ringo sold for £1900 and a ticket stub from the last scheduled Beatles concert on August 29, 1966 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco fetched £560.

There was fierce competition among bidders for a Christmas card illustrated with a drawing of Brian Epstein’s London home, which sold for £750.

Less popular were two Linda McCartney calendars for 1979 and 1980, which sold for £25 despite an estimate of £80, and a set of limited edition Beatles bears from the USA, which failed to sell.

Stephen Bailey, manager of the Beatles Shop, said: “We’re always going to be surprised by the things people come in with. There is always something we have never seen before or something we didn’t know existed.

“All the auctions are great in their own way, and it’s lovely to show these items. It makes the customers who buy them very happy and the people who sell them are happy with the money they’re getting for them.”