Contract that launched The Beatles' career could fetch up to half a million pounds at auction

The contract that saw The Beatles come together is set to go under the hammer in London for half-a-million pounds.

John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr signed the paperwork on October 1 1962, just four days before the release of their first single 'Love Me Do'.

Also putting pen to the paper was their manager Brian Epstein who famously discovered the band a year earlier during a lunchtime performance at Liverpool's Cavern Club.

The contract has never been sold before but it's now up for grabs in the "Rock & Pop" sale at Sotheby's Auction House in London this afternoon.