LAUREL and Hardy fans from across the world bid yesterday for photographs from a unique family archive of Stan Laurel.

Fifty-four items went under the hammer at Anderson and Garland in Newcastle and, although not every item sold, the sale raised almost £8,000, somewhat short of the preauction estimate of £10,000 to £15,000.

The items were put up for auction by the Sunderlandbased grand-daughter of Stan Laurel’s sister, Olga.

One of the items that did not sell was a rare photograph from the Ulverstonborn comedian’s childhood.

The picture, taken in about 1897, showed Stan and his older brother, Gordon, performing a Stan-written play called The Rivals of Dockwray Square, in the yard of the family home in Dockwray Square, North Shields.

Steven Moore, the auction house’s senior specialist, said: “There were 54 items in the collection and everything but ten lots sold.

“Pictures from his childhood didn’t sell. As one of my colleagues said, if you were interested in Mick Jagger you would want items from the Sixties. Likewise with Stan Laurel, you want them with a bowler hat.’’ However, a contract signed by Stan’s theatre manager father fetched £415 and a picture of the comic genius as the Mona Lisa made £380, having been expected to raise £200 to £300.

“The sale went very well, and, when I looked over, the vendor was smiling.’’ said Mr Moore.

“There was a lot of interest in the sale and we had people on the telephone from Germany and America as well as private collectors from this country. There were quite a lot of Laurel and Hardy fans in the room.”

A picture of Laurel and Hardy at the Catalina Tuna Club, on the pier at Avalon, Catalina, in 1937, made £400 and one of Stan and his wife, Ida Kitaeva Raphael, aboard the RMS Queen Mary en route from Southampton to New York, in 1948, fetched £170.