The Beatles: Sir Paul McCartney's guitar string sold at auction

The Epiphone acoustic guitar string was won in a competition and sent to a fan following the Rubber Soul sessions

A guitar string believed to have been used by Sir Paul McCartney at the height of The Beatles' fame has gone under the hammer for £1,600.

The Epiphone acoustic string was won in a competition in 1965 and sent to a fan following the Rubber Soul recording sessions.

It sold at Special Auction Services (SAS) in Newbury, Berkshire, earlier.

SAS director Thomas Forrester called the item "wonderful".

The prize was won by David Cardey in a competition held by monthly fan magazine The Beatles Book.

The auction lot, which was expected to fetch between £3,000 and £5,000, includes two letters from its editor Johnny Dean. The first came with a one guinea prize and a promise of a "piece of Beatles equipment" to follow.

In his second letter, Mr Dean wrote: "This guitar string came from Paul's acoustic Epiphone and was given to me by him after The Beatles' last recording session."

The Beatles recorded Rubber Soul in 1965, the same year they received MBEs from the Queen

Mr Cardey has since died, but the auction house described the guitar string as his "pride and joy and kept safely by him for over 45 years".

Also included was Mr Cardey's original fan club card.

The total purchase price for the lot, including premiums, was £2,080.

Mr Forrester said: "This tiny little bit, what makes it so wonderful is, if you are a Beatles fan, or just a music fan full stop, yes it is quite expensive, but it's also affordable.

"It's not a guitar. If you wanted a guitar, well, Sir Paul McCartney is still looking for his bass guitar, and a guitar would be worth £1m.

"This created music, and you can think that he actually strummed chords on this piece, so I think this is really, really special."

He added: "The Beatles are seminal. Without The Beatles we wouldn't have The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, or Queen, and we wouldn't have ended up with the music culture we have today.

"We love their music, it's basically the beat of the soul of our county."

The auction includes letters that trace the guitar string's origins, and a fan club card

The Beatles mainly recorded Rubber Soul in the autumn of 1965 and released it in December.

It included Fab Four classics Drive My Car, Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown), Nowhere Man and In My Life, and Sir Paul is believed to have played acoustic guitar on Michelle.