WOMAN's AUTOGRAPH BOOK SIGNED BY THE BEATLES SELLS FOR £1,800

A rare collection of hero signatures is something money can buy, thanks to a Sutton Coldfield woman who gave up her beloved collection of famous names, which sold at auction this week for £1,800.

The autographs of each member of The Beatles from when they performed in Coventry in the 1960s, plus football legends including Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst, are contained within the precious autograph book which belonged to Jill Darby.

"It sounds very exciting but in fact it was a bit of a cheat because I had an aunt whose name was Marjorie Warden and she worked in the Coventry Hippodrome box office at the time and on this occasion she volunteered to get The Beatles' autographs for me, which is what she did," she explained.

The exciting discovery caused quite a stir at Richard Winterton Auctioneers in Lichfield where the star lot went under the hammer on Wednesday (January 20).

Director Richard Winterton said: "You see quite a few autograph books that come through and, a bit flippant really, flip, flip, flip, nothing, nothing, nothing – but this was a bit different. I started at the back and was taken away, and ran through to the rest of the team to say what we found."

Jill is hoping that the sale of the item will help fund her dream trip to the Galypgos Islands.

But with an autograph book boasting some of the biggest names in British sporting and music history, why did she want to part with it?

"I've come to the time of my life now where I think I ought to experience the world a little bit more," she said.

"I'll have the memories for the rest of my life."