Churchill's half-smoked cigar goes for £550 at auction

The partially smoked cigar Credit: C & T Auctioneers

A cigar said to have been smoked by the wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill has gone for £550 at an auction in Kent.

The person selling the cigar said that a member of their family, George Henry Townsend, picked up the half-smoked cigar as a souvenir on Churchill's last day as Prime Minister in the 1950s. The story goes on to say that Townsend, a former member of the Royal Artillery during World War Two, served in the household of Number 10 Downing Street at the time.

The cigar was kept inside a brown paper envelope labelled ' Winston Churchill's Cigar (authentic). It was accompanied by a black and white photograph of Churchill and Queen Elizabeth II at No. 10 on the former Prime Minister's last day in office in the year 1955.

The back of the black and white photograph Credit: C & T Auctioneers