A WOMAN got the shock of her life when a figurine her husband bought at a car boot sale for £2 sold at auction for £4,250.

Helen Lambert, 48, from Colne, said she took the Royal Doulton ‘Spook’ ornament to antiques experts in Blackpool because she didn’t like it.

But she left the BBC’s Flog It event in buoyant mood after valuer James Lewis said it could be worth up to £300.

And one month later, when the item went under the hammer in Lytham St Annes, it exceeded all expectations when a collector paid £4,250 after a frantic bidding war.

It emerged that the lot — bought at Burscough car boot sale 18 months ago — was a very rare blue-glazed Royal Doulton prototype made in 1922, which made it highly-sought after.

Mrs Lambert, who works at Burnley General Hospital, said her husband David didn’t believe her when she called him at work to say how much the figurine had sold for. She said: “David knew it had it been valued at between £200 and £300 so I told him it had gone for £250. Then I said: ‘Then put a 4 in front of that number’.

“I don’t think he could believe me. When David bought the figure home from the car boot sale I didn't like it at all.

“I was totally shocked when it sold for so much at auction. I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing to happen to people and we don’t expect it to happen again.”

Mr Lewis and Flog It presenter Paul Martin, selected the item for filming in November 2012 and it was screened on BBC1 for the first time yesterday.

Louise Hibbins, series producer of Flog It, said: “The whole team were delighted for Helen and David when the Spook sold for such a high price.”

Mrs Lambert said she used the unexpected windfall to buy new wardrobes for her family home in Elm Street, Colne, and to take her daughter to Disneyland in Paris.