Old Royal Wootton Bassett town signs help raise cash for heroes (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Old Royal Wootton Bassett town signs help raise cash for heroes

5:00pm Thursday 29th December 2011 in Royal Wootton Bassett

Four old road signs welcoming people to Royal Wootton Bassett have raised £3,320 for Help for Heroes on the website eBay.

Wiltshire Council sold two original signs reading Welcome to Wootton Bassett – which were in place at the town before it received its Royal patronage – and two created for the town’s renaming ceremony, which read: Welcome to Royal Wootton Bassett.

The original signs were sold for £1,170 and £920, while the newer signs raised £720 and £510.

The sale of the signs smashed the expectations of the council, which listed them with a starting bid of just £50.

The town has become known for the dignified way residents lined the High Street to pay their respects when the bodies of troops killed in Afghan-istan were repatriated.

In October Wootton Bassett became the first town in more than 100 years to get the Royal prefix.

Patricia Bennett-Yard travelled from Hartley, in Kent, on Wednesday to pick up the sign which she paid £510 for. She said: “I am Help for Heroes mad. I have been fundraising since it started in 2007 because we should be so grateful for what they do.”