A collection of 130 lots of smokers’ pipes has been sold for over £7,000 at a Clitheroe auction.

A rare 17th century ‘Bristol’ Monkey clay pipe topped the lot at £780 at the sale room at Clitheroe Auction Mart in Lincoln Way Meanwhile two cheroot holders ornately carved in meerschaum, a soft mineral, made £380.

The ornate and highly unusual pipes were being sold by an anonymous vendor at Silverwoods of Lancashire’s monthly auction on Thursday.

Auction chiefs said that such a collection might not be seen again.

Silverwoods’ auctioneer, Wilf Mould, said: “Obviously, this is something of a one-off collection in terms of its sheer size and the rarity and quality of a number of the pieces."

Other highlights of the collection included a cased silver mounted churchwardens pipe from 1906 and an oriental opium pipe with a holder and attached storage box.

And there was also a middle eastern carved wood pipe which has a double stem so that two people can smoke the pipe at once.