Rare photographs of The Beatles in Weston-super-Mare before fame go to auction

A collection of unseen photographs of The Beatles from their 1963 concerts in Weston-super-Mare, before they became world famous, are being put up for auction.

The series of photographs, taken by Sandra Woodruff who lives in Warmley in South Gloucestershire, show the band members on the beach and walking around the town.

The collection goes up for auction on Friday 27 May and is expected to fetch around £10,000.

Sandra told ITV News how she managed to take the photographs: "I went down to Weston with a friend and we went onto the pier and asked some lads that were running the ghost train whether they knew where The Beatles were staying.

"They said they'd tell us if we bought them some fags so off we went and bought them 10 Woodbines each and they said, 'Yep, Royal Pier Hotel' and so off we went and there they were."

Sandra said she broke into the group's hotel room at The Royal Pier Hotel with her friend and snapped pictures with them over a number of days.

She said: "We watched them coming in and out of their hotel for hours, driving their vehicles, we got into their bedroom, I looked for something I could pinch that they wouldn't be too cross about!"

Sandra took a cardboard sleeve advertising men's underwear from the wardrobe, which she then had signed by each of The Beatles.

The iconic collection of photographs were taken during the band's six-day-tour in Weston-Super-Mare before the band became a global success.

"We would never have dreamt how famous they were going to become and to think that we just happened to be lucky enough to be there in the July, two or three months before you wouldn't have got anywhere near to them," she said.

"People can't believe it, they're just gobsmacked - especially as it's so long ago and everybody knows how famous they were and how famous their music became throughout the years."