A shop sign and 30 mannequins were among the lots as fittings from Brighton's most famous department store were sold at auction.

The dark blue and gold fibreglass sign, which had hung above the main entrance of Hanningtons in North Street, was sold for £50 to a local man who bought it as a memento.

Derek Burns plans to display the 5ft by 3ft sign on a wall inside his home in Edburton Avenue, Brighton.

The sign was one of about 750 items from the shop which went on sale.

A Victorian mahogany wall clock marked 'Hanningtons, Brighton' was sold for £2,400 to Charles Boughton-Leigh, a member of the family that owned Hanningtons, which was established in 1808.

A 22in by 32in Victorian watercolour, depicting a scene outside the shop and believed to have been painted by Thomas Allom, fetched more than £3,000.

The shop's Georgian design mahogany boardroom table and chairs were sold for a total of £5,300.

While many of the items were sold to specialist dealers, others were snapped up by former staff and customers anxious to purchase a piece of Brighton history.

Clifford Lansberry, a partner in Gorringes of Lewes, who conducted the sale, said: "Some of the staff have brought a few pieces from stock.

"I think a lady who came here for years to have her hair done bought two gilt settees and some rose printed chairs from the beauty salon."

Among the quirkier items at the sale, which attracted about 500 bidders, were 30 mannequins used in the shop's window.

Ben Coleman and Elin Holgersson of Bristol Road, Brighton, bought five of them for £90.

Miss Holgersson said: "We are going to put them in the window of our flat. It looks like a shop anyway and people sometimes ask if we are open."

Mr Lansberry said: "We are expecting total sale proceeds to come to about £70,000 to £80,000."