Great Train Robbery court files found in cellar

The documents were found in a locked safe close to where the robbery took place

Court documents related to the Great Train Robbery have been found inside a locked safe in a cellar.

On 8 August 1963, a gang of 15 men stole £2.6m from a Royal Mail train near Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, after tampering with signal lights.

While most of the group were eventually caught and convicted, a few others involved escaped or were never conclusively identified.

A collection of photos, newspaper clippings and letters were uncovered by a woman as she searched through her late husband's belongings in Buckinghamshire in a house less then 10 miles from the scene of the robbery.

The Great Train Robbery took place near Cheddington, Buckinghamshire.

The collection will be sold across multiple lots at auction by Irita Marriott Auctioneer and Valuers on the 10 and 11 September in Melbourne, Derbyshire.

The auction house said the collection dates from around the time of the original trial in 1964 and was compiled by Colonel J. Owen-Jones, the Under Sheriff of Buckinghamshire.

Also included are letters from the Under Sheriff of Cheshire, who sought advice on handling court proceedings for the upcoming Moors Murders trial in 1966.

Other documents related to the robbery are in the British Museum.

In 2013, a collection of materials compiled by Det Con John Bailey, the first detective at the scene, sold at auction for £13,000.