POTTERY lovers David and Sally Sands say that an auction of their prized collection was a disaster.

The couple, who run the general store in Kings Road, Dorchester, hoped their Clarice Cliff crockery would fetch up to £100,000 at Olympia in London.

But bidders paid a total of £38,516 for the pieces with 37 of the 88 lots left unsold after the final hammer came down.

Mr Sands, who has built up the collection with his wife over the past 15 years, said: "We are very disappointed. We wanted to sell the whole lot in one go, that was the idea of the auction. It was a disaster.

"Now we'll have to think about what we are going to do. It may be that we sell pieces at auctions here and there."

Mr and Mrs Sands built up their shop in Kings Road from scratch 20 years ago, but have now put the business up for sale.

They wanted to sell the 1930s art deco Clarice Cliff pottery before moving in January.

The top piece to be sold at the Sotheby's auction was an Applique Idyll charger painted with a figure picking fruit. It went for £2,702.

Other lots included a £2,115 vase, a £1,586 sugar shifter and a £1,351 Greek jug.

Cliff became the pre-eminent ceramic artist of her generation after starting work at the Tunstall Earthenware manufacturing Company at the age of 13 to support her chronically ill mother.

The Sands collection was hailed as one the finest collection of the rags to riches artist's work.

The couple bought their first pieces - two brightly coloured tea sets - at an auction in Crewkerne.

Mr Sands added: "People have asked how we got on and I've told them it's been a disaster. One person suggested that the business with the World Trade Centre and Afghanistan may have influenced matters.

"It appears Americans aren't buying stuff like they used since September 11. We planned this auction six months ago and never thought anything like this would happen."

Now the couple say they may consider auctioning some of the remaining lots at HY Dukes in Dorchester.