NME magazine collection sells for £2,590

Tony Howard's music magazine hoard started in the 60s when he was 12 years old

An "extraordinary collection" of NME magazines has sold for more than £2,500 at auction.

Tony Howard, 70, from Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, decided to sell his 3,000-strong haul to free up space in his loft and turn it into cash for concert tickets in a bid to travel the world and see his favourite bands.

He started his New Musical Express collection in 1966 at the age of 12, when he ditched reading comics in favour of his first love - music.

Auctioneers John Taylors in Louth had described it as "perhaps the finest ever to be offered at auction" and had expected it to fetch £3,000 when it went under the hammer on Tuesday.

Mr Howard said he was "amazed" by the media interest in his collection

Mr Howard, who was twice formerly the mayor of Mablethorpe, said he was pleased they had been sold for "a fair price".

"I was sat at the back of the auction room and just taking in all that was going on.

"I have to admit as it got closer and closer, I started to get a little bit nervous, thinking, well, what if nobody wants them?"

The collection was sold in three parts with the winning bidders from Lincolnshire, Kent and Scotland, said James Laverack, auctioneer at John Taylors.

Magazines from the period between 1973 and 2018, which contained the most articles, sold for £2,000 to a Scottish buyer, he said.

Mr Howard said he had no regrets selling his collection and would be spending the proceeds on gigs.

"It's strange that when people start talking about events in the music world that have gone on, I've always been able to say 'Oh, I've got a paper all about that.' I can't say that anymore but I've still got the memories."

He said he was "most amazed" by the media interest in his music magazine.

"The biggest thing about the whole event has been the amount of people that have come to me and want to find out about this collection that I was selling.

"I've just been collecting and reading weekly newspapers and, all of a sudden, I'm making the news myself. It seems so odd."

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.