VALUERS who arrived at a former antique dealer's home after his death were amazed to be greeted by a scene 'straight out of Steptoe and Son.'

A vast an untidy hoard of antiques squirrelled away by eccentric John Vosper - whose customers included Princess Anne and the late Princess Margaret - had not seen the light of day for at least 18 years.

Experts were amazed by the variety, quality and potential value of the secret collection, which had gathered dust in his home in Minchinhampton since his retirement in the late 1980s.

Now the huge array of clocks, oil lamps, books, china, glassware, silver, medals, postcards and furniture has been catalogued and will be sold on December 11 at an auction expected to raise tens of thousands of pounds at Simon Chorley auctioneers at Prinknash, There are 457 lots up for sale.

"The auctioneers had to fight their way through piles of clocks, brass and oil lamps as they catalogued the sale in what looked like a scene from Steptoe and Son," said a spokesman for Simon Chorley.

"Many of the items would have come from house clearance or sales by the auctioneers Bruton Knowles in the late 1970s and 1980s and would have been picked up inexpensively.

"Since that time, Victorian furniture has fallen in price but other areas like medals and postcards have seen huge growth.

"Many of the items still have old lot labels attached and a large quantity of old house sale catalogues were found in drawers and boxes.

"This is testament to the huge number of sales that John attended during the heyday of the house sale in the 1970s and 1980s."

The antique world lost one of its greatest characters when Mr Vosper died, aged 86, after a short illness on September 8.

Public viewing of the collection is on December 9 between 10am-7pm and December 10 from 10am-4pm at Simon Chorley auctioneers.

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