A collection of 3,000 toy cars, trucks and trains which was built up over 50 years has been sold at auction for £227,000.

Retired car dealer Raymond Hainsworth, 78, did not expect to make a fortune on the sale, as he has paid top prices for the highest quality toys that included Dinky, Hornby and Tri-ang that were not “play worn”.

Auctioneer Andrew Reed, of Vectis Auctions in Thornaby, said he thought more than half of the 2,000 lots that were sold over three days would now go abroad.

The star of the sale was a black and white Dinky lorry in the Corn Products livery which was produced for the firm as a promotional item and was not on general sale to the public.

A collector paid £6,960 including commission.

Bradford-born Mr Hainsworth and his wife, Pat, who live in a converted barn near Skipton, started collecting when their twin boys Ian and David were babies and their first Christmas was spent surrounded by a new train set.