ANTIQUES collected by a couple who met while working in Preston have fetched a cool £1 million - twice the sum predicted by experts.

Husband and wife Alan and Edna Austin, who met while working at Loxhams Garages in Preston, had been buying antiques since 1950. But their huge personal collection was only discovered after Mrs Austin's death in October last year.

Last week, Sotheby's auctioneers held a three-day sale of more than 1,000 rare and collectable antiques found stacked in boxes at the Austin's home in Whalley.

The sale was expected to reach the £500,000 mark but eventually topped more than twice that amount.

Tim Wonnacott, the head of Sotheby's Chester office and a personal friend of Mr and Mrs Austin, said: "We are extremely pleased with the result of the sale which doubled our expectations.

"The fact that all three days exceeded their top estimates bears testament to the Austins' eye for collecting."

The highlight of the three days was a stunning silver and enamel model of a cockerel, which sold to an anonymous private collector for £32,000 - more than five times the top estimate.

The silver bird had enamelled comb and head feathers in yellow, red and brown and the tail feathers were picked out in gilding. It was signed Ozeki Company and dated from the Meiji period (1868 - 1912). And an Italian walnut commode valued at £5,000 fetched almost three times that price. Other pieces of interest were several paintings including a colourful oil of a dancing scene by Spanish artist Placido FrancM-Os y Pascual which sold for £21,850.

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