A treasure trove of Hornby trains and Meccano toys is being sold in the region.

The toys, kept at Frank Hornby's Liverpool factory before it closed in the 1970s, were part of a collection of one of his staff.

The items, which include a signed photograph of Hornby, will be going on sale at Vectis Auctioneers, of Thornaby, near Stockton, on Thursday, April 8.

Toy collectors from around the world are expected to bid for the 500 toys and other nostalgic items, which are expected to fetch more than £40,000.

Vectis regularly sells Hornby trains, Meccano and Dinky toys and hold several world record prices for items produced at the Liverpool factory.

"But we have never seen anything like this," said Bryan Goodall, chairman of the Vectis auction group.

Hornby kept prototype models and copies of catalogues posters and sales literature in a library, but when the factory closed, they were left lying around or thrown out.

The firm's marketing director, Doug McHard, asked if he could take some of the material with him when he retired. He kept it safe and, after he died a few months ago, his widow decided to sell the collection.

Items include a prototype of a London tram that never went into production, and a set of Hurricane fighters in silver that are normally in camouflage.