A DEVIZES woman who bought a vase for £25 has seen it sold for almost £2,500 at auction.

The woman bought the Troika pillar vase in the early 1970s when she was on holiday in Cornwall. It was bought with money she got for selling her spin dryer.

The woman will now use the proceeds to visit her brother in New Zealand.

The 22 inch high vase was made between 1966 and 1972 and according to auctioneer Alan Aldridge is highly collectable. He thinks the price fetched for it could be a world record for a Troika vase.

He said: "It's about two feet high and this is the first one we have come across that isn't broken.

"Normal Troika is made by the bucket load and the lesser pieces have gone down in value, while the bigger pieces are rare and have increased in value and have become very fashionable."

There was fierce bidding at Henry Aldridge and Son's auction room in Devizes on Saturday.

Mr Aldridge said: "There were three telephone lines on it, including one bidder from Australia, and six bidders in the room."

The vendor was in the saleroom and was amazed at the final price paid.

Mr Aldridge said: "She was gobsmacked."

The sale also saw a letter written by Admiral Lord Nelson, pictured below, go for just over £3,800.

The letter was written by Nelson on March 30 1805 while he was in pursuit of the French fleet leading up to the Battle of Trafalgar.

Mr Aldridge said: "There was good strong interest in the letter and it was bought by a man from Wiltshire."

The letter was owned by an elderly woman in Bristol who sold it to raise money for a new carpet.

A chest of drawers linked to Trafalgar was sold for £2,250 while two illustrations for the children's book, The Happy Funny Book published in 1919, went for £2,800, above the estimate put by Mr Aldridge.