Original Sooty puppet sells for auction world record

An original Sooty puppet from the children's TV show has sold for a world-record price at auction today.

The puppet, which celebrates its 70th birthday this year, had an estimate price of two to three thousand pounds - but it eventually ended up fetching more than thirteen thousand pounds.

It went under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers at Etwall in Derbyshire today, and teams there said there had been worldwide interest in purchasing the puppet. It was sold to a private bidder in the room.

The auctioneers held the previous record when it sold a similar original Sooty puppet to Richard Cadell, magician and presenter of The Sooty Show, for £3,100 in 2008.