A BEST-SELLING children’s author saw a fortune go up in flames – when he accidentally burnt the original manuscripts of his first book while moving house, twenty years ago.

LOOKING back to the week that was October 14 to October 20, 20 years ago...

Former vicar Graham Taylor did not realise he had destroyed the original drafts of his book Shadowmancer until he turned the embers on a flickering bonfire, in October 2004.

As he stirred the ashes, he uncovered a scorched page from one of his works.

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And when Mr Taylor searched his house, near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, he realised to his horror that three drafts were missing.

Mr Taylor admitted the books had become nothing more than “a very expensive pile of ash”.

Although he did not want to place a value on the manuscripts – one for his first book Shadowmancer, one of two for his follow-up called Wormwood and a complete version of his new book Tersias – the draft of Shadowmancer alone has been valued at more than £100,000.

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Mr Taylor sold his precious motorbike to publish the first 2,500 copies of Shadowmancer.

Many were snapped up by parishioners in Cloughton, near Scarborough, where he worked as the local vicar until deciding to stand down after a heart scare.

The early books were changing hands for more than £3,000, but the draft manuscript of Shadowmancer was worth far more because it revealed how the author developed the story and what changes were made to the final narrative.

A long distance lorry driver was looking forward to an epic journey in a very different vehicle – his cherished Mini.

Sean Hayes, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was preparing to meet up with other fans of the cult car on the trail of The Italian Job, the hit movie starring Michael Caine.

With co-driver Kenny Titshall, from nearby Spennymoor, he hoped to raise almost £2,000 for the National Children’s Homes by driving through Europe to Turin, where much of the 1969 film was shot.

In his 1999 blue Cooper S, one of the last made before the model ended a year later, he will cross the Channel.

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They were supporting The Italian Job charity which arranged for them to recreate scenes from the film, including a drive on the roof of the Fiat test track at Imola and through the streets of Turin.

Unlike scenes from the film, the Turin police will be directing them instead of chasing them.

Mr Hayes said: “There are 100 of us altogether making our way down, so it will be quite a sight."