A Victoria Cross, awarded to a Bradford footballer who was killed during the First World War, has sold for £210,000 at an auction in London.

A mystery buyer yesterday paid more than £50,000 over the amount expected for the medal, posthumously awarded to Second Lieutenant Donald Simpson Bell, at Spink saleroom in Bloomsbury.

Mr Bell was killed in action aged 25 at the Somme on July 10, 1916, two years after he helped Bradford Park Avenue win promotion to the First Division.

It is not yet known whether the medal, which has been on display at the Green Howards Museum in Richmond, Yorkshire, was bought by Lord Ashcroft, 64, former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.

The multi-millionaire businessman already owns 162 Victoria Crosses and has pledged £5m for a permanent gallery for their display at the Imperial War Museum in London.

Mr Bell, born in Harrogate in 1890, was an amateur footballer with Newcastle and Crystal Palace, but in 1912 he turned professional and joined Bradford Park Avenue, making his debut against Wolverhamp-ton Wanderers on April 13, 1913.

The following year, as a member of the Avenue team, he helped win promotion to the top flight as runners-up.

A few weeks later, after Britain had declared war on Germany, he became the first professional footballer to enlist, joining the West Yorkshire Regiment in 1915 before being commissioned into the 9th Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment.

During his battalion’s first battle, Mr Bell crossed No Man’s Land and attacked a German machine gun post.

The following year Mr Bell was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.