AN oil painting by one of Blackburn's finest artists has been sold for nearly £10,000 at Sotheby's in London, nearly £3,000 more than expected.

The picture by Blackburn-born Thomas Cantrell Dugdale (1880-1952) event-ually fetched £9,840 by a mystery bidder.

The picture, titled 'La Bella Andaluza', which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1924, originally cost just £315.

Thomas Cantrell Dugdale made history on April 22, 1943, when he became the first Blackburn-born artist to be elected to the Royal Academy.