VALUABLE knick-knacks went under the hammer in Dorchester when a television auction programme came to town.

The BBC's Flog it! was filming at Duke's auction rooms on the Grove trading estate, helping around 20 people to make money from family heirlooms and household junk.

Programme makers visited Weymouth six weeks ago to hold free valuations on anything anybody wanted to sell.

More than 100 people came forward with items they no longer needed and experts estimated how much they would fetch.

The show's producers chose 20 of the best items and followed their progress through a genuine auction at Duke's.

Sisters Sally Rexworthy and June Baylis took along an Anglo-Indian vanity box that experts had said would sell for around £120.

Mrs Rexworthy, from Charminster, said she was astonished when the hammer came down at £460.

She said: "We were really pleased with it - the sale price is well over the estimate, which is wonderful."

Rosalind May, from Westham, brought along a Moorcroft bowl that had been valued at between £100 and £150.

She said: "I was really pleased because it went for £320. I've had it for more than 25 years, but I'm doing a bit of decluttering and I thought I'd get rid of it.

"I've never done anything like this before - it's quite exciting."

Civil servant Keith Aston made a tidy profit when an art nouveau biscuit barrel which he had bought 18 years ago for just 10p went for £50. He said: "It's been sitting under the telly. The kids put their sweet wrappers in it and it just gathered dust.

"My wife hated it, so I thought I should get rid of it."

Mr Aston from Preston said the experts had told him he would get £80 to £120 for the barrel but he had not been quite so optimistic.

He said: "The original reserve was £80, but I didn't think it would fetch that, so I dropped it to £50, which was lucky,

"We're going to Jersey next weekend for an overnight trip so this £50 will be handy for a bit of food and beer. I think I'll waste the rest."

The programme's presenter Paul Martin said the area had some really interesting items, which had made for an interesting auction.

He said: "It's ripe for fine art and there are some lovely collections. We have had Poole pottery, regional figures and bits of Moorcroft.

"What's interesting about auctions is that you just never know how much something is going to fetch. You can get two people bidding against each other and that can really push the price up."