A rare 1940s British Railways poster advertising Brighton is up for auction after being found beneath the lino of a house.

The poster was discovered in Edinburgh along with 25 others from the same era, forming a collection which is expected to fetch £20,000 at auction this Friday.

The new owner of the property was in the process of renovating the house when he made the discovery. He was tearing up the floor when he realised what the paper lining was.

Patrick Bogue, director of Onslow Auctions in Dorset, where the auction is being held, said it was likely the original owner of the posters had worked for the railways.

He said: “It is possible the previous home owner worked for the railways and had ready access to the posters which were a good source of quality paper during a period of austerity.”

Mr Bogue added this is not the first time the auction house has sold poster collections that have been discovered in similar circumstances.

Some of the posters were badly damaged and could not be sold, but others have been restored.

The image of Brighton will appear alongside an Art Deco style poster advertising the seaside delights of New Brighton, near Liverpool, by George Dixon in 1949.

Amy Conochie, gallery manager at artrepublic, Brighton, said these kinds of images were popular during this period to encourage tourism after the war.

The poster shows the West Pier in its heyday and was designed to promote transport links from London to Brighton.

Little is known about the artist, FW Wentworth- Shields, who also produced a Hastings poster for British Railways promoting “Fast and Frequent Service of Trains from London”.